Alma Media Oyj's (HEL:ALMA) CEO Compensation Is Looking A Bit Stretched At The Moment

Key Insights

• Alma Media Oyj will host its Annual General Meeting on 4th of April
• Total pay for CEO Kai Telanne includes €1.01m salary
• The overall pay is 40% above the industry average
• Over the past three years, Alma Media Oyj's EPS grew by 28% and over the past three years, the total shareholder return was 67%

CEO Kai Telanne has done a decent job of delivering relatively good performance at Alma Media Oyj (HEL:ALMA) recently. In light of this performance, CEO compensation will probably not be the main focus for shareholders as they go into the AGM on 4th of April. However, some shareholders may still be hesitant of being overly generous with CEO compensation.

View our latest analysis for Alma Media Oyj

Comparing Alma Media Oyj's CEO Compensation With The Industry

Our data indicates that Alma Media Oyj has a market capitalization of €758m, and total annual CEO compensation was reported as €2.4m for the year to December 2022. That's a modest increase of 5.3% on the prior year. We think total compensation is more important but our data shows that the CEO salary is lower, at €1.0m.

On examining similar-sized companies in the Finnish Media industry with market capitalizations between €369m and €1.5b, we discovered that the median CEO total compensation of that group was €1.7m. Hence, we can conclude that Kai Telanne is remunerated higher than the industry median. Moreover, Kai Telanne also holds €2.1m worth of Alma Media Oyj stock directly under their own name.

Component	2022	2021	Proportion (2022)
Salary	€1.0m	€908k	42%
Other	€1.4m	€1.4m	58%
Total Compensation	€2.4m	€2.3m	100%

On an industry level, around 49% of total compensation represents salary and 51% is other remuneration. Alma Media Oyj pays a modest slice of remuneration through salary, as compared 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.

Alma Media Oyj's Growth

Alma Media Oyj's earnings per share (EPS) grew 28% per year over the last three years. Its revenue is up 12% over the last year.

Shareholders would be glad to know that the company has improved itself over the last few years. This sort of respectable year-on-year revenue growth is often seen at a healthy, growing business. 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 Alma Media Oyj Been A Good Investment?

Boasting a total shareholder return of 67% over three years, Alma Media Oyj has done well by shareholders. As a result, some may believe the CEO should be paid more than is normal for companies of similar size.

To Conclude...

Given that the company's overall performance has been reasonable, the CEO remuneration policy might not be shareholders' central point of focus in the upcoming AGM. However, any decision to raise CEO pay might be met with some objections from the shareholders given that the CEO is already paid higher than the industry average.

It is always advisable to analyse CEO pay, along with performing a thorough analysis of the company's key performance areas. We did our research and identified 4 warning signs (and 1 which is potentially serious) in Alma Media Oyj we think you should know about.

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. 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.