James Mworia, widely recognized as one of the highest-paid CEOs in Kenya, challenges this perception by shedding light on his perspective and role within the company.
Rather than viewing himself merely as an employee concerned with salary and perks, Mworia emphasizes his focus on creating and sharing value within the organization. In the financial year ending March 31, 2017, he earned Ksh375.6 million, equivalent to Ksh1 million per day, making him the top-earning CEO in Kenya, with an average monthly income of Ksh31.3 million.
However, in the subsequent fiscal year concluding in March 2018, his earnings saw a significant decline to Ksh177.6 million annually, or Ksh14.7 million per month, inclusive of a Ksh132 million bonus. The downward trend continued, and by the end of March 2020, Mworia’s salary had further reduced to Ksh45 million, without any bonus due to unmet annual performance targets. This translated to a monthly income of Ksh3.75 million or Ksh125,000 per day.
The financial challenges faced by the company became evident when it reported a historic loss of Ksh1.37 billion in the fiscal year ending March 2021, following a profitable year in 2020 with a Ksh4.6 billion profit.
Consequently, Mworia missed out on bonuses for two consecutive years, impacting his overall income. The company continued to face losses, posting a Ksh662.1 million loss after tax for the six-month period ending September 2021. Although this marked an improvement from the Ksh1.98 billion loss in the corresponding period the previous year, the continued losses were attributed to challenges in Centum’s Two Rivers Development and real estate investments.
Two Rivers Development, in which Centum holds a 58% stake, recorded a Ksh342.3 million loss in the first half of the fiscal year ending September 2021, improving from a Ksh1.01 billion loss in the same period the previous year. Additionally, Centum reported a Ksh141.8 million loss from other real estate investments during the same period, down from the Ksh279.7 million loss in the prior year.
As of September 30, 2021, Centum’s total assets were valued at Ksh47.3 billion, with a market capitalization of Ksh11.9 billion. Real estate and Private Equity (PE) comprised 81 percent of its portfolio, while marketable securities represented 19%.
Due to the sustained losses, Mworia relinquished his position as the highest-paid CEO in Kenya, with Gideon Muriuki (Co-op Bank), Joshua Oigara (KCB), and James Mwangi (Equity) taking the lead in the executive compensation rankings.
