Jan De Witte became the CEO of Barco NV (EBR:BAR) in 2016, 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 Barco.
View our latest analysis for Barco
Comparing Barco NV’s CEO Compensation With the industry
Our data indicates that Barco NV has a market capitalization of €1.6b, and total annual CEO compensation was reported as €1.6m for the year to December 2019. That’s a slight decrease of 5.9% on the prior year. We think total compensation is more important but our data shows that the CEO salary is lower, at €600k.
For comparison, other companies in the same industry with market capitalizations ranging between €843m and €2.7b had a median total CEO compensation of €915k. This suggests that Jan De Witte is paid more than the median for the industry.
| Component | 2019 | 2018 | Proportion (2019) |
| Salary | €600k | €600k | 37% |
| Other | €1.0m | €1.1m | 63% |
| Total Compensation | €1.6m | €1.7m | 100% |
On an industry level, around 63% of total compensation represents salary and 37% is other remuneration. In Barco’s case, non-salary compensation represents a greater slice of total remuneration, in comparison to the broader industry. It’s important to note that a slant towards non-salary compensation suggests that total pay is tied to the company’s performance.
Barco NV’s Growth
Barco NV’s earnings per share (EPS) grew 72% per year over the last three years. Its revenue is down 3.3% over the previous year.
Overall this is a positive result for shareholders, showing that the company has improved in recent years. While it would be good to see revenue growth, profits matter more in the end. Historical performance can sometimes be a good indicator on what’s coming up next but if you want to peer into the company’s future you might be interested in this free visualization of analyst forecasts.
Has Barco NV Been A Good Investment?
Most shareholders would probably be pleased with Barco NV for providing a total return of 43% over three years. This strong performance might mean some shareholders don’t mind if the CEO were to be paid more than is normal for a company of its size.
To Conclude…
As previously discussed, Jan is compensated more than what is normal for CEOs of companies of similar size, and which belong to the same industry. But EPS growth and shareholder returns have been top-notch for the past three years. Considering such exceptional results for the company, we’d venture to say CEO compensation is fair. The pleasing shareholder returns are the cherry on top. We wouldn’t be wrong in saying that shareholders feel that Jan’s performance creates value for the company.
CEO compensation can have a massive impact on performance, but it’s just one element. We did our research and spotted 1 warning sign for Barco that investors should look into moving forward.
Of course, you might find a fantastic investment by looking at a different set of stocks. So take a peek at this free list of interesting companies.
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