Should You Be Pleased About The CEO Pay At u-blox Holding AG's (VTX:UBXN)

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Thomas Seiler has been the CEO of u-blox Holding AG (VTX:UBXN) since 2007. This analysis aims first to contrast CEO compensation with other companies that have similar market capitalization. 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.

View our latest analysis for u-blox Holding

How Does Thomas Seiler's Compensation Compare With Similar Sized Companies?

Our data indicates that u-blox Holding AG is worth CHF605m, and total annual CEO compensation is CHF1.4m. (This figure is for the year to 2017). While we always look at total compensation first, we note that the salary component is less, at CHF458k. We looked at a group of companies with market capitalizations from CHF400m to CHF1.6b, and the median CEO compensation was CHF1.0m.

Thus we can conclude that Thomas Seiler receives more in total compensation than the median of a group of companies in the same market, and of similar size to u-blox Holding AG. However, this doesn't necessarily mean the pay is too high. We can get a better idea of how generous the pay is by looking at the performance of the underlying business.

You can see, below, how CEO compensation at u-blox Holding has changed over time.

Is u-blox Holding AG Growing?

u-blox Holding AG has increased its earnings per share (EPS) by an average of 15% a year, over the last three years (using a line of best fit). It achieved revenue growth of 9.2% over the last year.

Overall this is a positive result for shareholders, showing that the company has improved in recent years. It's also good to see modest revenue growth, suggesting the underlying business is healthy. You might want to check this free visual report on analyst forecasts for future earnings.

Has u-blox Holding AG Been A Good Investment?

Since shareholders would have lost about 49% over three years, some u-blox Holding AG shareholders would surely be feeling negative emotions. It therefore might be upsetting for shareholders if the CEO were paid generously.

In Summary...

We compared the total CEO remuneration paid by u-blox Holding AG, and compared it to remuneration at a group of similar sized companies. As discussed above, we discovered that the company pays more than the median of that group.

Importantly, though, the company has impressed with its earnings per share growth, over three years. However, the returns to investors are far less impressive, over the same period. Considering the per share profit growth, but keeping in mind the weak returns, we'd need more time to form a view on CEO compensation. CEO compensation is one thing, but it is also interesting to check if the CEO is buying or selling u-blox Holding (free visualization of insider trades).

Important note: u-blox Holding 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.

To help readers see past the short term volatility of the financial market, we aim to bring you a long-term focused research analysis purely driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis does not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements.

The author is an independent contributor and at the time of publication had no position in the stocks mentioned. For errors that warrant correction please contact the editor at editorial-team@simplywallst.com.

Simply Wall St analyst Simply Wall St and Simply Wall St have no position in any of the companies mentioned. This article is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. 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.