Yahoo Finance Should You Be Pleased About The CEO Pay At Umicore SA's (EBR:UMI)
Marc Grynberg has been the CEO of Umicore SA (EBR:UMI) since 2008. This report will, first, examine the CEO compensation levels in comparison to CEO compensation at companies of similar size. After that, we will consider the growth in the business. And finally we will reflect on how common stockholders have fared in the last few years, as a secondary measure of performance. The aim of all this is to consider the appropriateness of CEO pay levels.
View our latest analysis for Umicore
How Does Marc Grynberg's Compensation Compare With Similar Sized Companies?
According to our data, Umicore SA has a market capitalization of €6.3b, and pays its CEO total annual compensation worth €8.0m. (This number is for the twelve months until December 2018). We think total compensation is more important but we note that the CEO salary is lower, at €700k. When we examined a selection of companies with market caps ranging from €3.6b to €11b, we found the median CEO total compensation was €813k.
As you can see, Marc Grynberg is paid more than the median CEO pay at companies of a similar size, in the same market. However, this does not necessarily mean Umicore SA is paying too much. We can better assess whether the pay is overly generous by looking into the underlying business performance.
The graphic below shows how CEO compensation at Umicore has changed from year to year.
Is Umicore SA Growing?
Umicore SA has increased its earnings per share (EPS) by an average of 20% a year, over the last three years (using a line of best fit). Its revenue is up 24% over last year.
This shows that the company has improved itself over the last few years. Good news for shareholders. This sort of respectable year-on-year revenue growth is often seen at a healthy, growing business. You might want to check this free visual report on analyst forecasts for future earnings.
Has Umicore SA Been A Good Investment?
With a total shareholder return of 0.6% over three years, Umicore SA has done okay by shareholders. But they probably wouldn't be so happy as to think the CEO should be paid more than is normal, for companies around this size.
In Summary...
We compared the total CEO remuneration paid by Umicore SA, 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.
Importantly, though, the company has impressed with its earnings per share growth, over three years. Looking at the same time period, we think that the shareholder returns are respectable. While it may be worth researching further, we don't see a problem with the CEO pay, given the good EPS growth. CEO compensation is one thing, but it is also interesting to check if the CEO is buying or selling Umicore (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.
