Should You Worry About SFS Group AG's (VTX:SFSN) CEO Salary Level?

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In 2016 Jens Breu was appointed CEO of SFS Group AG (VTX:SFSN). First, this article will compare CEO compensation with compensation at similar sized companies. After that, we will consider the growth in the business. Third, we'll reflect on the total return to shareholders over three years, as a second measure of business performance. The aim of all this is to consider the appropriateness of CEO pay levels.

See our latest analysis for SFS Group

How Does Jens Breu's Compensation Compare With Similar Sized Companies?

At the time of writing our data says that SFS Group AG has a market cap of CHF3.1b, and is paying total annual CEO compensation of CHF1.2m. (This number is for the twelve months until December 2018). That's below the compensation, last year. While we always look at total compensation first, we note that the salary component is less, at CHF559k. We examined companies with market caps from CHF1.9b to CHF6.2b, and discovered that the median CEO total compensation of that group was CHF1.5m.

That means Jens Breu receives fairly typical remuneration for the CEO of a company that size. While this data point isn't particularly informative alone, it gains more meaning when considered with business performance.

You can see, below, how CEO compensation at SFS Group has changed over time.

Is SFS Group AG Growing?

SFS Group AG has increased its earnings per share (EPS) by an average of 22% a year, over the last three years (using a line of best fit). It achieved revenue growth of 6.4% over the last year.

This demonstrates that the company has been improving recently. A good result. It's good to see a bit of revenue growth, as this suggests the business is able to grow sustainably. It could be important to check this free visual depiction of what analysts expect for the future.

Has SFS Group AG Been A Good Investment?

SFS Group AG has served shareholders reasonably well, with a total return of 30% over three years. But they would probably prefer not to see CEO compensation far in excess of the median.

In Summary...

Jens Breu is paid around the same as most CEOs of similar size companies.

We would wish for better returns (whether dividends or capital gains) but we do admire the solid EPS growth on show here. So considering these factors, we think the CEO pay is probably quite reasonable. So you may want to check if insiders are buying SFS Group shares with their own money (free access).

Important note: SFS Group 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.

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.

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. Thank you for reading.