Should You Worry About Ascencio SCA's (EBR:ASC) CEO Pay?

In 2017, Vincent Querton was appointed CEO of Ascencio SCA (EBR:ASC). 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.

See our latest analysis for Ascencio

How Does Vincent Querton's Compensation Compare With Similar Sized Companies?

According to our data, Ascencio SCA has a market capitalization of €345m, and paid its CEO total annual compensation worth €88k over the year to September 2019. When we examined a selection of companies with market caps ranging from €177m to €707m, we found the median CEO total compensation was €331k.

Pay mix tells us a lot about how a company functions versus the wider industry, and it's no different in the case of Ascencio. On an industry level, roughly 59% of total compensation represents salary and 41% is other remuneration. Talking in terms of the company, Ascencio prefers to reward its CEO through non-salary benefits, opting not to give Vincent Querton a salary.

Most shareholders would consider it a positive that Vincent Querton takes less total compensation than the CEOs of most similar size companies, leaving more for shareholders. However, before we heap on the praise, we should delve deeper to understand business performance. The graphic below shows how CEO compensation at Ascencio has changed from year to year.

Is Ascencio SCA Growing?

Ascencio SCA has reduced its earnings per share by an average of 15% a year, over the last three years (measured with a line of best fit). In the last year, its revenue changed by just 0.9%.

Unfortunately, earnings per share have trended lower over the last three years. And the flat revenue is seriously uninspiring. So given this relatively weak performance, shareholders would probably not want to see high compensation for the CEO. It could be important to check this free visual depiction of what analysts expect for the future.

Has Ascencio SCA Been A Good Investment?

With a total shareholder return of 0.2% over three years, Ascencio SCA 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...

It appears that Ascencio SCA remunerates its CEO below most similar sized companies.

The compensation paid to Vincent Querton is lower than is usual at similar sized companies. But the company lacks earnings per share growth, and returns to shareholders are less than stellar. There is room for improved company performance, but we don't see the CEO pay as a big issue here. CEO compensation is an important area to keep your eyes on, but we've also identified 2 warning signs for Ascencio (1 is a bit unpleasant!) that you should be aware of before investing here.

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

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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. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned. Thank you for reading.