Should You Worry About Ion Beam Applications SA's (EBR:IBAB) CEO Pay?

Olivier Legrain became the CEO of Ion Beam Applications SA (EBR:IBAB) in 2012. 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 Ion Beam Applications

How Does Olivier Legrain's Compensation Compare With Similar Sized Companies?

At the time of writing our data says that Ion Beam Applications SA has a market cap of €450m, and is paying total annual CEO compensation of €321k. (This figure is for the year to December 2018). It is worth noting that the CEO compensation consists almost entirely of the salary, worth €321k. We looked at a group of companies with market capitalizations from €178m to €713m, and the median CEO total compensation was €367k.

That means Olivier Legrain receives fairly typical remuneration for the CEO of a company that size. Although this fact alone doesn't tell us a great deal, it becomes more relevant when considered against the business performance.

You can see, below, how CEO compensation at Ion Beam Applications has changed over time.

Is Ion Beam Applications SA Growing?

Over the last three years Ion Beam Applications SA has shrunk its earnings per share by an average of 109% per year (measured with a line of best fit). Its revenue is down -12% over last year.

Few shareholders would be pleased to read that earnings per share are lower over three years. And the fact that revenue is down year on year arguably paints an ugly picture. These factors suggest that the business performance wouldn't really justify a high pay packet for the CEO.

Has Ion Beam Applications SA Been A Good Investment?

With a three year total loss of 64%, Ion Beam Applications SA would certainly have some dissatisfied shareholders. This suggests it would be unwise for the company to pay the CEO too generously.

In Summary...

Remuneration for Olivier Legrain is close enough to the median pay for a CEO of a similar sized company .

After looking at EPS and total shareholder returns, it's certainly hard to argue the company has performed well, since both metrics are down. Suffice it to say, we don't think the CEO is underpaid! Whatever your view on compensation, you might want to check if insiders are buying or selling Ion Beam Applications shares (free trial).

Important note: Ion Beam Applications 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.

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