Shareholders Will Probably Not Have Any Issues With Vossloh AG's (ETR:VOS) CEO Compensation

Key Insights

• Vossloh to hold its Annual General Meeting on 15th of May
• Total pay for CEO Oliver Schuster includes €579.2k salary
• The overall pay is comparable to the industry average
• Vossloh's EPS grew by 14% over the past three years while total shareholder return over the past three years was 22%

Under the guidance of CEO Oliver Schuster, Vossloh AG (ETR:VOS) has performed reasonably well recently. In light of this performance, CEO compensation will probably not be the main focus for shareholders as they go into the AGM on 15th of May. Here is our take on why we think the CEO compensation looks appropriate.

See our latest analysis for Vossloh

Comparing Vossloh AG's CEO Compensation With The Industry

According to our data, Vossloh AG has a market capitalization of €833m, and paid its CEO total annual compensation worth €1.9m over the year to December 2023. We note that's a small decrease of 3.8% on last year. We think total compensation is more important but our data shows that the CEO salary is lower, at €579k.

For comparison, other companies in the German Machinery industry with market capitalizations ranging between €372m and €1.5b had a median total CEO compensation of €1.6m. So it looks like Vossloh compensates Oliver Schuster in line with the median for the industry.

Component	2023	2022	Proportion (2023)
Salary	€579k	€550k	31%
Other	€1.3m	€1.4m	69%
Total Compensation	€1.9m	€2.0m	100%

Speaking on an industry level, salary and non-salary portions, both make up 50% each of the total remuneration. It's interesting to note that Vossloh allocates a smaller portion of compensation to salary in comparison to the broader industry. If non-salary compensation dominates total pay, it's an indicator that the executive's salary is tied to company performance.

Vossloh AG's Growth

Vossloh AG's earnings per share (EPS) grew 14% per year over the last three years. In the last year, its revenue is up 14%.

Shareholders would be glad to know that the company has improved itself over the last few years. It's also good to see decent revenue growth in the last year, suggesting the business is healthy and growing. 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 Vossloh AG Been A Good Investment?

Vossloh AG has served shareholders reasonably well, with a total return of 22% over three years. 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.

To Conclude...

Seeing that the company has put up a decent performance, only a few shareholders, if any at all, might have questions about the CEO pay in the upcoming AGM. However, we still think that any proposed increase in CEO compensation will be examined closely to make sure the compensation is appropriate and linked to performance.

While CEO pay is an important factor to be aware of, there are other areas that investors should be mindful of as well. That's why we did some digging and identified 1 warning sign for Vossloh that you should be aware of before investing.

Important note: Vossloh 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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This article by Simply Wall St 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. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.