Is Deutsche Lufthansa AG (ETR:LHA) Excessively Paying Its CEO?

Carsten Spohr became the CEO of Deutsche Lufthansa AG (ETR:LHA) in 2014. This analysis aims first to contrast CEO compensation with other companies that have similar market capitalization. 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 method should give us information to assess how appropriately the company pays the CEO.

See our latest analysis for Deutsche Lufthansa

Advertisement

How Does Carsten Spohr's Compensation Compare With Similar Sized Companies?

According to our data, Deutsche Lufthansa AG has a market capitalization of €7.2b, and paid its CEO total annual compensation worth €4.4m over the year to December 2018. While we always look at total compensation first, we note that the salary component is less, at €1.4m. We further remind readers that the CEO may face performance requirements to receive the non-salary part of the total compensation. When we examined a selection of companies with market caps ranging from €3.7b to €11b, we found the median CEO total compensation was €3.1m.

Thus we can conclude that Carsten Spohr receives more in total compensation than the median of a group of companies in the same market, and of similar size to Deutsche Lufthansa AG. However, this doesn't necessarily mean the pay is too high. 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 Deutsche Lufthansa has changed from year to year.

XTRA:LHA CEO Compensation, February 12th 2020
XTRA:LHA CEO Compensation, February 12th 2020

Is Deutsche Lufthansa AG Growing?

Over the last three years Deutsche Lufthansa AG has shrunk its earnings per share by an average of 3.6% per year (measured with a line of best fit). It achieved revenue growth of 2.6% over the 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. These factors suggest that the business performance wouldn't really justify a high pay packet for the CEO. It could be important to check this free visual depiction of what analysts expect for the future.

Has Deutsche Lufthansa AG Been A Good Investment?

Deutsche Lufthansa AG has served shareholders reasonably well, with a total return of 30% 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...

We examined the amount Deutsche Lufthansa AG pays its CEO, and compared it to the amount paid by similar sized companies. Our data suggests that it pays above the median CEO pay within that group.

We think many shareholders would be underwhelmed with the business growth over the last three years. And shareholder returns are decent but not great. So we doubt many shareholders would consider the CEO pay to be particularly modest! Shareholders may want to check for free if Deutsche Lufthansa insiders are buying or selling shares.

Of course, you might find a fantastic investment by looking elsewhere. So take a peek at this free list of interesting companies.

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.

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. Thank you for reading.

About XTRA:LHA

Deutsche Lufthansa

Operates as an aviation company in Europe, North America, Central and South America, Aisa/Pacific, the Middle East, and Africa.

Undervalued with excellent balance sheet.

Advertisement

Weekly Picks

LO
Lou_Basenese
OPTH logo
Lou_Basenese on Optimi Health ·

The Only Psychedelic Company Already Selling MDMA and Psilocybin to Real Patients, Yet Priced Like It Doesn’t Exist

Fair Value:US$1156.7% undervalued
53 users have followed this narrative
2 users have commented on this narrative
9 users have liked this narrative
BL
BlackGoat
IREN logo
BlackGoat on IREN ·

IREN's Bold Moves in Sustainable Bitcoin Mining & AI Data Centers

Fair Value:US$71.4852.5% undervalued
205 users have followed this narrative
6 users have commented on this narrative
32 users have liked this narrative
HE
HedgeY
ARM logo
HedgeY on Arm Holdings ·

The Architecture Layer of AI Computing - But Priced Like the Future Already Arrived?

Fair Value:US$43043.1% undervalued
9 users have followed this narrative
1 users have commented on this narrative
3 users have liked this narrative
HI
Hidden_Rock_Capital
FISV logo
Hidden_Rock_Capital on Fiserv ·

Temporary "perfect storm" leads to opportunity to buy financial services leader for less than 5x long-term earnings

Fair Value:US$119.9954.8% undervalued
14 users have followed this narrative
0 users have commented on this narrative
7 users have liked this narrative

Updated Narratives

ON
LOT logo
Ontological on Lotus Technology ·

Lotus Tech, Finloop and FOMO Pay Collaborate to Explore Vehicle Tokenization

Fair Value:US$2.462.9% undervalued
1 users have followed this narrative
1 users have commented on this narrative
0 users have liked this narrative
NE
AIIO logo
newsfinder11221 on Robo.ai ·

Robo.ai (NASDAQ: AIIO): Building the Infrastructure Behind the AI Revolution

Fair Value:US$539.0% undervalued
1 users have followed this narrative
3 users have commented on this narrative
0 users have liked this narrative
EU
European_Hidden_Gem_Stocks
ALMIN logo
European_Hidden_Gem_Stocks on MINT Société anonyme ·

Mint SA: A French Micro-Cap Energy Retailer Worth Watching

Fair Value:€1153.1% undervalued
1 users have followed this narrative
0 users have commented on this narrative
0 users have liked this narrative

Popular Narratives

CU
MSFT logo
CubanEros on Microsoft ·

A wonderful business at reasonable price.

Fair Value:US$419.916.3% undervalued
90 users have followed this narrative
0 users have commented on this narrative
6 users have liked this narrative
OS
oscargarcia
NVDA logo
oscargarcia on NVIDIA ·

The company that went from selling GPUs to gamers to becoming the AI arms dealer of the 21st century.

Fair Value:US$28029.6% undervalued
201 users have followed this narrative
9 users have commented on this narrative
15 users have liked this narrative
BE
PYPL logo
benjamin_lvieq on PayPal Holdings ·

PayPal: PayPal Doesn't Need to Grow – It Needs to Stop Falling – A Mispriced Cash Machine With a Cannibal Buyback

Fair Value:US$6510.3% undervalued
73 users have followed this narrative
2 users have commented on this narrative
11 users have liked this narrative

Trending Discussion

DE
TDOC logo
derek_3wsdg on Teladoc Health ·

You’ve overlooked the activist investor factor. Travis Cocke’s Voss has announced 5% ownership through a 13G filing. They’ve added to that 5% since, and in doing so, have created a structural trap door for 27.42 Million Shares actively sold short. Chuck will announce lots of positives on July 29 but it’s what Voss announces shortly after that will rock the overextended Teledoc shorts. The Walmart partnership is the tip of the iceberg. The market is missing the sheer regulatory and enterprise friction of modern corporate healthcare. Teladoc isn't a "consumer app"; it is the primary digital infrastructure integrated directly into the legacy backends of Tier-1 insurance companies and fortune 500 employers, covering 105 million+ lives. Teladoc is acting as the digital top-of-funnel engine for the world's largest retailer. If Voss pushes the narrative that Teladoc is effectively the outsourced digital brain of Walmart's entire healthcare footprint, the fair value shifts from a basic health multiple to an enterprise distribution premium. Additionally , we are in a structural gold rush for high-quality, legally compliant, longitudinal medical data to train vertical healthcare AI models. Large technology hyperscalers and pharmaceutical giants cannot simply scrape the internet for this; they need structured clinical inputs. Teladoc sits on one of the largest de-identified virtual medical datasets on earth. From the activist playbook , we’ll see Voss demand the immediate creation of a Data & Diagnostics Licensing Division, transforming a legacy liability into an incredibly high-margin, pure-software data asset that requires zero human clinician hours to scale. Chuck is doing great work and deserves credi5 for the Teledoc turnaround but it will be Travis Cocke who will be responsible for a share price way beyond your $15 valuation.

1
|
0