Does Evonik Industries AG's (ETR:EVK) CEO Salary Reflect Performance?

Christian Kullmann has been the CEO of Evonik Industries AG (ETR:EVK) since 2017. This analysis aims first to contrast CEO compensation with other large companies. Next, we'll consider growth that the business demonstrates. 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 Evonik Industries

How Does Christian Kullmann's Compensation Compare With Similar Sized Companies?

According to our data, Evonik Industries AG has a market capitalization of €11b, and paid its CEO total annual compensation worth €4.3m over the year to December 2018. While this analysis focuses on total compensation, it's worth noting the salary is lower, valued at €1.4m. Importantly, there may be performance hurdles relating to the non-salary component of the total compensation. We took a group of companies with market capitalizations over €7.2b, and calculated the median CEO total compensation to be €4.3m. There aren't very many mega-cap companies, so we had to take a wide range to get a meaningful comparison figure.

So Christian Kullmann receives a similar amount to the median CEO pay, amongst the companies we looked at. This doesn't tell us a whole lot on its own, but looking at the performance of the actual business will give us useful context.

You can see a visual representation of the CEO compensation at Evonik Industries, below.

Is Evonik Industries AG Growing?

Evonik Industries AG has increased its earnings per share (EPS) by an average of 9.3% a year, over the last three years (using a line of best fit). In the last year, its revenue is up 8.5%.

I'd prefer higher revenue growth, but it is good to see modest EPS growth. So there are some positives here, but not enough to earn high praise. You might want to check this free visual report on analyst forecasts for future earnings.

Has Evonik Industries AG Been A Good Investment?

Given the total loss of 3.2% over three years, many shareholders in Evonik Industries AG are probably rather dissatisfied, to say the least. It therefore might be upsetting for shareholders if the CEO were paid generously.

In Summary...

Remuneration for Christian Kullmann is close enough to the median pay for a CEO of a large company .

We would like to see somewhat stronger per share growth. And shareholder returns have been disappointing over the last three years. So many would argue that the CEO is certainly not underpaid. If you think CEO compensation levels are interesting you will probably really like this free visualization of insider trading at Evonik Industries.

If you want to buy a stock that is better than Evonik Industries, this free list of high return, low debt companies is a great place to look.

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.