Yahoo Finance Does Symrise AG's (ETR:SY1) CEO Pay Matter?
Heinz-Jürgen Bertram has been the CEO of Symrise AG (ETR:SY1) since 2009. This analysis aims first to contrast CEO compensation with other large companies. Then we'll look at a snap shot of the business growth. And finally we will reflect on how common stockholders have fared in the last few years, as a secondary measure of performance. This process should give us an idea about how appropriately the CEO is paid.
See our latest analysis for Symrise
How Does Heinz-Jürgen Bertram's Compensation Compare With Similar Sized Companies?
According to our data, Symrise AG has a market capitalization of €12b, and paid its CEO total annual compensation worth €2.5m over the year to December 2018. While we always look at total compensation first, we note that the salary component is less, at €800k. Importantly, there may be performance hurdles relating to the non-salary component of the total compensation. We took a group of companies with market capitalizations over €7.3b, and calculated the median CEO total compensation to be €4.3m. (We took a wide range because the CEOs of massive companies tend to be paid similar amounts - even though some are quite a bit bigger than others).
This would give shareholders a good impression of the company, since most large companies pay more, leaving less for shareholders. While this is a good thing, you'll need to understand the business better before you can form an opinion.
You can see a visual representation of the CEO compensation at Symrise, below.
Is Symrise AG Growing?
Symrise AG has increased its earnings per share (EPS) by an average of 4.2% a year, over the last three years (using a line of best fit). Its revenue is up 7.0% over last year.
I'd prefer higher revenue growth, but it is good to see modest EPS growth. Considering these factors I'd say performance has been pretty decent, though not amazing. You might want to check this free visual report on analyst forecasts for future earnings.
Has Symrise AG Been A Good Investment?
Most shareholders would probably be pleased with Symrise AG for providing a total return of 42% over three years. This strong performance might mean some shareholders don't mind if the CEO were to be paid more than is normal for a company of its size.
In Summary...
It appears that Symrise AG remunerates its CEO below most large companies.
Heinz-Jürgen Bertram is paid less than what is normal at large companies, and the total shareholder return has been pleasing over the last three years. We would like to see EPS growth, but in our view it seems the CEO is modestly remunerated. Whatever your view on compensation, you might want to check if insiders are buying or selling Symrise shares (free trial).
If you want to buy a stock that is better than Symrise, this free list of high return, low debt companies is a great place to look.
We aim to bring you long-term focused research analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material.
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.
