Shareholders May Be More Conservative With L'Oréal S.A.'s (EPA:OR) CEO Compensation For Now

Key Insights

• L'Oréal will host its Annual General Meeting on 29th of April
• Salary of €2.00m is part of CEO Nicolas Hieronimus's total remuneration
• The total compensation is 208% higher than the average for the industry
• Over the past three years, L'Oréal's EPS grew by 13% and over the past three years, the total shareholder return was 4.4%

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CEO Nicolas Hieronimus has done a decent job of delivering relatively good performance at L'Oréal S.A. (EPA:OR) recently. This is something shareholders will keep in mind as they cast their votes on company resolutions such as executive remuneration in the upcoming AGM on 29th of April. However, some shareholders may still want to keep CEO compensation within reason.

See our latest analysis for L'Oréal

How Does Total Compensation For Nicolas Hieronimus Compare With Other Companies In The Industry?

According to our data, L'Oréal S.A. has a market capitalization of €183b, and paid its CEO total annual compensation worth €9.8m over the year to December 2024. That's a slight decrease of 7.5% on the prior year. We think total compensation is more important but our data shows that the CEO salary is lower, at €2.0m.

On comparing similar companies in the France Personal Products industry with market capitalizations above €6.9b, we found that the median total CEO compensation was €3.2m. Hence, we can conclude that Nicolas Hieronimus is remunerated higher than the industry median. Furthermore, Nicolas Hieronimus directly owns €81m worth of shares in the company, implying that they are deeply invested in the company's success.

Component	2024	2023	Proportion (2024)
Salary	€2.0m	€2.0m	20%
Other	€7.8m	€8.6m	80%
Total Compensation	€9.8m	€11m	100%

Speaking on an industry level, nearly 55% of total compensation represents salary, while the remainder of 45% is other remuneration. L'Oréal 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.

A Look at L'Oréal S.A.'s Growth Numbers

L'Oréal S.A. has seen its earnings per share (EPS) increase by 13% a year over the past three years. Its revenue is up 5.6% over the last year.

This demonstrates that the company has been improving recently and is good news for the shareholders. It's nice to see revenue heading northwards, as this is consistent with healthy business conditions. 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 L'Oréal S.A. Been A Good Investment?

L'Oréal S.A. has not done too badly by shareholders, with a total return of 4.4%, over three years. It would be nice to see that metric improve in the future. In light of that, investors might probably want to see an improvement on their returns before they feel generous about increasing the CEO remuneration.

In Summary...

The company's decent performance might have made most shareholders happy, possibly making CEO remuneration the least of the concerns to be discussed 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.

Shareholders may want to check for free if L'Oréal insiders are buying or selling shares.

Important note: L'Oréal 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.