South African CEOs to watch
NOT EASY: OPPORTUNITY TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE
Frustrated with slow growth shareholders begin asking questions.
Political interference, poor leadership and policy uncertainty in South Africa have contributed to the poor economy of the last five years, making it difficult for companies to achieve top line growth and above-inflation returns, while placing pressure on executives.
Frustrated with slow growth shareholders begin asking questions of executives. Are they up to the job? Are they doing something wrong?
Executives, perhaps anticipating the question, react in a variety of ways. Some carry on regardless. Others feel pressured to do something and concoct a “grand expansion scheme”, which often doesn’t pay off, says Adrian Saville, CE of Cannon Asset Managers.
At least 22 of the JSE’s largest 100 companies have seen new CEOs appointed since January last year.
The Moneyweb Investor had a look at these changes and identified CEOs to watch.
African Bank CEO Basani Maluleke is transforming the bank into a fully-fledged transactional bank, offering better interest rates than its peers.
Altron CEO Mteto Nyati aims to simplify the structure and convert it into a lean IT operation and revive growth.
He delivered double-digit earnings for the year to February 2018, as promised.
After a 38-year innings the public face of Investec’s Stephen Koseff (CEO) and Bernard Kantor (MD) are handing over to Fani Titi and Hendrik du Toit, in what rates as one of the most ordered management transitions seen in corporate SA.
Titi and Du Toit will take over as joint CEOs in October.
They are Investec insiders and will retain the distinctive Investec culture that has served the bank well.
Career banker David Munro was appointed Liberty CEO in March 2017, after former CEO Thabo Dloti fell out with the board and resigned suddenly.
Munro has overhauled Liberty’s strategy, doing a u-turn on its African expansion plans and cancelling the group’s R160 million plan to acquire a 75% stake in a Nigerian long-term insurer.
After a truly disastrous 2016, the MTN board swept out the old, with Rob Shuter at the helm as new CEO.
He made progress transforming MTN from a nuts-and-bolts provider of network infrastructure and voice services into a fully-fledged digital services provider.
Not only is the CEO arrangement between Bongani Nqwababa and Stephen Cornell working, but the pair are steadily steering Sasol on a new course.
They have put an end to new mega-projects and focus on the production of chemicals, which already generate half the company’s profit.
Tsogo Sun’s Jacques Booysen has embarked on an internal group restructuring, giving shareholders better control of their investment exposure – the more volatile gaming and hotel business and the dependable property business.