Yahoo Finance Should You Worry About Great Portland Estates Plc's (LON:GPOR) CEO Salary Level?
In 2002 Toby Courtauld was appointed CEO of Great Portland Estates Plc (LON:GPOR). This report will, first, examine the CEO compensation levels in comparison to CEO compensation at companies of similar size. Then we'll look at a snap shot of the business growth. Third, we'll reflect on the total return to shareholders over three years, as a second measure of business performance. The aim of all this is to consider the appropriateness of CEO pay levels.
Check out our latest analysis for Great Portland Estates
How Does Toby Courtauld's Compensation Compare With Similar Sized Companies?
At the time of writing our data says that Great Portland Estates Plc has a market cap of UK£1.8b, and is paying total annual CEO compensation of UK£905k. (This figure is for the year to March 2019). That's actually a decrease on the year before. While we always look at total compensation first, we note that the salary component is less, at UK£588k. As part of our analysis we looked at companies in the same jurisdiction, with market capitalizations of UK£824m to UK£2.6b. The median total CEO compensation was UK£1.4m.
A first glance this seems like a real positive for shareholders, since Toby Courtauld is paid less than the average total compensation paid by similar sized companies. However, before we heap on the praise, we should delve deeper to understand business performance.
You can see, below, how CEO compensation at Great Portland Estates has changed over time.
Is Great Portland Estates Plc Growing?
Over the last three years Great Portland Estates Plc has shrunk its earnings per share by an average of 69% per year (measured with a line of best fit). It saw its revenue drop -72% over the last year.
Sadly for shareholders, earnings per share are actually down, over three years. This is compounded by the fact revenue is actually down on last year. These factors suggest that the business performance wouldn't really justify a high pay packet for the CEO. You might want to check this free visual report on analyst forecasts for future earnings.
Has Great Portland Estates Plc Been A Good Investment?
Great Portland Estates Plc has not done too badly by shareholders, with a total return of 8.3%, over three years. But they probably don't want to see the CEO paid more than is normal for companies around the same size.
In Summary...
It appears that Great Portland Estates Plc remunerates its CEO below most similar sized companies.
The compensation paid to Toby Courtauld is lower than is usual at similar sized companies. But the business isn't growing earnings per share, and the returns to shareholders haven't been wonderful. We would like to see EPS growth from the business, although we wouldn't say the CEO pay is high. Whatever your view on compensation, you might want to check if insiders are buying or selling Great Portland Estates shares (free trial).
Important note: Great Portland Estates may not be the best stock to buy. You might find something better in this list of interesting companies with high ROE 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.
