By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
Absa Group has announced the early retirement of group chief executive officer Arrie Rautenbach, effective 15 April 2025, following discussions with the board.
Rautenbach will step down as CEO and executive director of Absa Group and Absa Bank on 15 October 2024, entering a six-month garden leave period.
His early retirement comes after the group saw its basic earnings per share drop by 9% from 1 302.4 cents per share in H1 2023 to 1,188 cents per share in H1 2024.
The group’s headline earnings per share also dropped by 6% from 1,293.1 cents in H1 2023 to 1,228.4 cents in H1 2024.
The drop in basic earnings and headline earnings per share came despite the group seeing its total income increase by 3% to R53 billion.
Although the group’s headline earnings decreased, it still kept its interim dividend steady at 685 cents per share.
The board expressed gratitude for Rautenbach’s 27 years of service and significant contributions.
The Board, on behalf of the Group, thanks Arrie for his commitment and extensive contribution to Absa over a career spanning more than 27 years and wishes him well in his retirement, “said the group.
Charles Russon will become Interim Chief Executive Officer of Absa Group and Absa Bank, effective 15 October 2024, subject to regulatory approval. He will also become an executive director on the boards.
Russon has been the Chief Executive of Absa’s Corporate and Investment Bank (CIB) since 2018 and a member of the Group Executive Committee since 2014.
He joined Absa Capital in 2006 as CFO and has held several senior roles at the group, such as Regional Head of Finance, Chief Operating Officer, and Chief Executive: Engineering Services.
He did his articles with KPMG and worked for Merrill Lynch and Deutsche Bank in London and Frankfurt. He is a Chartered Accountant and holds a BCom degree from Rhodes University.
Yasmin Masithela will then become Interim Chief Executive Officer of Absa’s CIB effective 15 October 2024, subject to regulatory approval.
Masithela is currently Managing Executive Corporate Transactional Banking, CIB and has held the role since May 2019.
She previously worked on the Group Executive Committee as Chief Executive of Strategic Services and Chief Compliance Officer, respectively.
She holds a BA and LLB from the University of Cape Town, as well as a Higher Diploma in Company Law, LLM in Tax Law from the University of the Witwatersrand.