This Is Why Symrise AG's (ETR:SY1) CEO Can Expect A Bump Up In Their Pay Packet

The decent performance at Symrise AG (ETR:SY1) recently will please most shareholders as they go into the AGM coming up on 05 May 2021. They will probably be more interested in hearing the board discuss future initiatives to further improve the business as they vote on resolutions such as executive remuneration. Here is our take on why we think CEO compensation is fair and may even warrant a raise.

See our latest analysis for Symrise

Comparing Symrise AG's CEO Compensation With the industry

At the time of writing, our data shows that Symrise AG has a market capitalization of €15b, and reported total annual CEO compensation of €2.5m for the year to December 2020. That's mostly flat as compared to the prior year's compensation. While we always look at total compensation first, our analysis shows that the salary component is less, at €800k.

In comparison with other companies in the industry with market capitalizations over €6.6b , the reported median total CEO compensation was €3.7m. In other words, Symrise pays its CEO lower than the industry median.

Component	2020	2019	Proportion (2020)
Salary	€800k	€800k	32%
Other	€1.7m	€1.7m	68%
Total Compensation	€2.5m	€2.5m	100%

Talking in terms of the industry, salary represented approximately 28% of total compensation out of all the companies we analyzed, while other remuneration made up 72% of the pie. Symrise pays out 32% of remuneration in the form of a salary, significantly higher than the industry average. It's important to note that a slant towards non-salary compensation suggests that total pay is tied to the company's performance.

A Look at Symrise AG's Growth Numbers

Symrise AG's earnings per share (EPS) grew 2.9% per year over the last three years. In the last year, its revenue is up 3.3%.

We'd prefer higher revenue growth, but it is good to see modest EPS growth. It's clear the performance has been quite decent, but it it falls short of outstanding,based on this information. 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 Symrise AG Been A Good Investment?

Boasting a total shareholder return of 66% over three years, Symrise AG has done well by shareholders. So they may not be at all concerned if the CEO were to be paid more than is normal for companies around the same size.

In Summary...

Overall, the company hasn't done too poorly performance-wise, but we would like to see some improvement. If it manages to keep up the current streak, CEO remuneration could well be one of shareholders' least concerns. In fact, strategic decisions that could impact the future of the business might be a far more interesting topic for investors as it would help them set their longer-term expectations.

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 Symrise that investors should think about before committing capital to this stock.

Arguably, business quality is much more important than CEO compensation levels. So check out this free list of interesting companies that have HIGH return on equity and low debt.

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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. 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.
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