Yahoo Finance What Did RELX PLC's (LON:REL) CEO Take Home Last Year?
Erik Engstrom has been the CEO of RELX PLC (LON:REL) since 2009. This report will, first, examine the CEO compensation levels in comparison to CEO compensation at other big companies. Next, we'll consider growth that the business demonstrates. And finally - as a second measure of performance - we will look at the returns shareholders have received over the last few years. This process should give us an idea about how appropriately the CEO is paid.
Check out our latest analysis for RELX
How Does Erik Engstrom's Compensation Compare With Similar Sized Companies?
Our data indicates that RELX PLC is worth UK£38b, and total annual CEO compensation is UK£8.4m. (This is based on the year to December 2018). While we always look at total compensation first, we note that the salary component is less, at UK£1.2m. When we examined a group of companies with market caps over UK£6.6b, we found that their median CEO total compensation was UK£4.0m. Once you start looking at very large companies, you need to take a broader range, because there simply aren't that many of them.
Thus we can conclude that Erik Engstrom receives more in total compensation than the median of a group of large companies in the same market as RELX PLC. However, this doesn't necessarily mean the pay is too high. A closer look at the performance of the underlying business will give us a better idea about whether the pay is particularly generous.
The graphic below shows how CEO compensation at RELX has changed from year to year.
Is RELX PLC Growing?
Over the last three years RELX PLC has grown its earnings per share (EPS) by an average of 13% per year (using a line of best fit). In the last year, its revenue is up 6.0%.
This demonstrates that the company has been improving recently. A good result. It's nice to see a little revenue growth, as this is consistent with healthy business conditions. Shareholders might be interested in this free visualization of analyst forecasts.
Has RELX PLC Been A Good Investment?
I think that the total shareholder return of 42%, over three years, would leave most RELX PLC shareholders smiling. So they may not be at all concerned if the CEO were to be paid more than is normal for companies around the same size.
In Summary...
We examined the amount RELX PLC pays its CEO, and compared it to the amount paid by other large companies. Our data suggests that it pays above the median CEO pay within that group.
However we must not forget that the EPS growth has been very strong over three years. On top of that, in the same period, returns to shareholders have been great. As a result of this good performance, the CEO remuneration may well be quite reasonable. If you think CEO compensation levels are interesting you will probably really like this free visualization of insider trading at RELX.
Of course, you might find a fantastic investment by looking elsewhere. So take a peek at this free list of interesting companies.
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If you spot an error that warrants correction, please contact the editor at editorial-team@simplywallst.com. This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. Simply Wall St has no position in the stocks mentioned. Thank you for reading.
