Is comdirect bank Aktiengesellschaft (ETR:COM) Overpaying Its CEO?
Arno Walter became the CEO of comdirect bank Aktiengesellschaft (ETR:COM) in 2015. 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 – as a second measure of performance – we will look at the returns shareholders have received over the last few years. This method should give us information to assess how appropriately the company pays the CEO.
See our latest analysis for comdirect bank
How Does Arno Walter’s Compensation Compare With Similar Sized Companies?
According to our data, comdirect bank Aktiengesellschaft has a market capitalization of €1.4b, and pays its CEO total annual compensation worth €800k. (This figure is for the year to 2017). We think total compensation is more important but we note that the CEO salary is lower, at €410k. We examined companies with market caps from €883m to €2.8b, and discovered that the median CEO compensation of that group was €1.2m.
This would give shareholders a good impression of the company, since most similar size companies have to pay more, leaving less for shareholders. Though positive, it’s important we delve into the performance of the actual business.
You can see, below, how CEO compensation at comdirect bank has changed over time.
Is comdirect bank Aktiengesellschaft Growing?
comdirect bank Aktiengesellschaft has reduced its earnings per share by an average of 5.6% a year, over the last three years. In the last year, its revenue is up 22%.
Unfortunately, earnings per share have trended lower over the last three years. While the revenue growth is good to see, it is outweighed by the fact that earnings per share are down, over three years. It’s hard to argue the company is firing on all cylinders, so shareholders might be averse to high CEO remuneration.
Shareholders might be interested in this free visualization of analyst forecasts. .
Has comdirect bank Aktiengesellschaft Been A Good Investment?
comdirect bank Aktiengesellschaft has generated a total shareholder return of 8.3% over three years, so most shareholders wouldn’t be too disappointed. But they would probably prefer not to see CEO compensation far in excess of the median.
In Summary…
It looks like comdirect bank Aktiengesellschaft pays its CEO less than similar sized companies.
Shareholders should note that compensation for Arno Walter is under the median of a group of similar sized companies. But the business isn’t growing earnings per share, and the returns to shareholders haven’t been wonderful. There is room for improved company performance, but we don’t see the CEO pay as a big issue here. Shareholders may want to check for free if comdirect bank insiders are buying or selling shares.
Of course, the past can be informative so you might be interested in considering this analytical visualization showing the company history of earnings and revenue.
To help readers see past the short term volatility of the financial market, we aim to bring you a long-term focused research analysis purely driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis does not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements.
The author is an independent contributor and at the time of publication had no position in the stocks mentioned. For errors that warrant correction please contact the editor at editorial-team@simplywallst.com.
