Yahoo Finance Is LSL Property Services plc's (LON:LSL) CEO Pay Fair?
Ian Crabb became the CEO of LSL Property Services plc (LON:LSL) in 2013. This analysis aims first to contrast CEO compensation with other companies that have similar market capitalization. After that, we will consider the growth in the business. 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.
See our latest analysis for LSL Property Services
How Does Ian Crabb's Compensation Compare With Similar Sized Companies?
At the time of writing our data says that LSL Property Services plc has a market cap of UK£195m, and is paying total annual CEO compensation of UK£775k. (This is based on the year to December 2018). We think total compensation is more important but we note that the CEO salary is lower, at UK£412k. We looked at a group of companies with market capitalizations from UK£82m to UK£329m, and the median CEO total compensation was UK£505k.
It would therefore appear that LSL Property Services plc pays Ian Crabb more than the median CEO remuneration at companies of a similar size, in the same market. However, this fact alone doesn't mean the remuneration is too high. We can get a better idea of how generous the pay is by looking at the performance of the underlying business.
You can see, below, how CEO compensation at LSL Property Services has changed over time.
Is LSL Property Services plc Growing?
Over the last three years LSL Property Services plc has shrunk its earnings per share by an average of 37% per year (measured with a line of best fit). Its revenue is up 4.1% over last year.
Sadly for shareholders, earnings per share are actually down, over three years. The fairly low revenue growth fails to impress given that the earnings per share is down. So given this relatively weak performance, shareholders would probably not want to see high compensation for the CEO. It could be important to check this free visual depiction of what analysts expect for the future.
Has LSL Property Services plc Been A Good Investment?
Given the total loss of 0.8% over three years, many shareholders in LSL Property Services plc are probably rather dissatisfied, to say the least. So shareholders would probably think the company shouldn't be too generous with CEO compensation.
In Summary...
We compared the total CEO remuneration paid by LSL Property Services plc, and compared it to remuneration at a group of similar sized companies. We found that it pays well over the median amount paid in the benchmark group.
We think many shareholders would be underwhelmed with the business growth over the last three years.
Arguably worse, investors are without a positive return for the last three years. Some might well form the view that the CEO is paid too generously! CEO compensation is one thing, but it is also interesting to check if the CEO is buying or selling LSL Property Services (free visualization of insider trades).
Arguably, business quality is much more important than CEO compensation levels. So check out this free list of interesting companies, that have HIGH return on equity and low debt.
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.
