Benoît De Blieck became the CEO of Befimmo SA (EBR:BEFB) in 1999, and we think it's a good time to look at the executive's compensation against the backdrop of overall company performance. This analysis will also look to assess whether the CEO is appropriately paid, considering recent earnings growth and investor returns for Befimmo.
Note: The company does not report funds from operations, and as a result, we have used earnings per share in our analysis.
See our latest analysis for Befimmo
Comparing Befimmo SA's CEO Compensation With the industry
According to our data, Befimmo SA has a market capitalization of €1.0b, and paid its CEO total annual compensation worth €476k over the year to December 2019. Notably, that's a decrease of 51% over the year before. We note that the salary portion, which stands at €251.6k constitutes the majority of total compensation received by the CEO.
For comparison, other companies in the same industry with market capitalizations ranging between €337m and €1.3b had a median total CEO compensation of €481k. From this we gather that Benoît De Blieck is paid around the median for CEOs in the industry.
| Component | 2019 | 2018 | Proportion (2019) |
| Salary | €252k | €265k | 53% |
| Other | €224k | €707k | 47% |
| Total Compensation | €476k | €973k | 100% |
On an industry level, around 59% of total compensation represents salary and 41% is other remuneration. Although there is a difference in how total compensation is set, Befimmo more or less reflects the market in terms of setting the salary. If salary is the major component in total compensation, it suggests that the CEO receives a higher fixed proportion of the total compensation, regardless of performance.
Befimmo SA's Growth
Over the last three years, Befimmo SA has shrunk its earnings per share by 14% per year. Its revenue is up 1.2% over the last year.
Few shareholders would be pleased to read that EPS have declined. The modest increase in revenue in the last year isn't enough to make us overlook the disappointing change in EPS. So given this relatively weak performance, shareholders would probably not want to see high compensation for the CEO. Moving away from current form for a second, it could be important to check this free visual depiction of what analysts expect for the future.
Has Befimmo SA Been A Good Investment?
With a three year total loss of 20% for the shareholders, Befimmo SA would certainly have some dissatisfied shareholders. This suggests it would be unwise for the company to pay the CEO too generously.
In Summary...
As we noted earlier, Befimmo pays its CEO in line with similar-sized companies belonging to the same industry. In the meantime, the company has reported declining EPS growth and shareholder returns over the last three years. Considering overall performance, shareholders will likely hold off support for a raise until results improve.
CEO compensation is an important area to keep your eyes on, but we've also need to pay attention to other attributes of the company. We identified 5 warning signs for Befimmo (2 are a bit unpleasant!) that you should be aware of before investing here.
Important note: Befimmo is an exciting stock, but we understand investors may be looking for an unencumbered balance sheet and blockbuster returns. You might find something better in this list of interesting companies with high ROE and low debt.
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About ENXTBR:BEFB
Befimmo
Befimmo, a Regulated Real-Estate Investment Trust (BE-REIT), listed on Euronext Brussels, is a real-estate operator specialising in office buildings, meeting centres and coworking spaces.
Questionable track record with limited growth.
