Woolworths CEO Roy Bagattini has received a substantial R80 million in remuneration for 2025, despite the company experiencing ongoing negative earnings growth. For the financial year ending on 30 June 2025, Bagattini’s base salary was R19.6 million, with additional benefits amounting to R4.7 million, bringing his guaranteed pay to R24.3 million.
While he did not receive a performance bonus, Bagattini was awarded R12 million in long-term incentives, totalling his remuneration to R36.5 million. However, when considering single-figure remuneration—which accounts for share vesting and other earnings—his total climbed to R79.9 million, a notable increase from the R65.3 million he earned the previous year.
Bagattini was not alone in seeing increased remuneration; Woolworths Food CEO Sam Ngumeni’s earnings rose from R20.9 million to R26 million. Ngumeni, who took over as CEO on 1 July 2024, had previously served as the group’s Chief Operating Officer. Group Finance Director Zaid Manjra also saw his single-figure remuneration increase from R5.2 million in FY24 to R9.2 million in FY25, although his previous year’s earnings only covered seven months.
Combined, these three executives earned R115.1 million in single-figure remuneration in FY25, a significant rise from the R91.4 million paid the year before.
Despite these pay rises, Woolworths has faced a challenging financial landscape, with profits declining due to poor performances outside its food business. The food division, however, reported strong turnover and concession sales growth of 11%, achieving sector-leading growth of 7.7% on a comparable-store basis.
The Fashion, Beauty, and Home (FBH) segment recorded a more modest turnover increase of 4.7%, with sales up 5.1% on a comparable-store basis. Although trading momentum improved in the second half of the year with a sales growth of 7%, the FBH segment faced challenges such as declining gross profit margins and increased promotional activity.
Further complicating matters, Woolworths’ Australian operations, specifically the Country Road Group (CRG), are undergoing a major restructuring. The CRG reported a sales drop of 5.4% and 6.8% on a comparable-store basis, alongside a significant decline in earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortisation (EBITDA).
Overall, the group’s earnings fell by 5.5% to 273.4 cents per share, with headline earnings per share down 26.4% to 268.1 cents. Consequently, the total dividend was reduced from 265.5 cents per share in the previous year to just 188 cents.