Shareholders May Find It Hard To Justify Increasing JCDecaux SE's (EPA:DEC) CEO Compensation For Now

Key Insights

• JCDecaux will host its Annual General Meeting on 7th of May
• Total pay for CEO Jean-François Decaux includes €1.08m salary
• The overall pay is comparable to the industry average
• JCDecaux's EPS grew by 119% over the past three years while total shareholder loss over the past three years was 8.3%

As many shareholders of JCDecaux SE (EPA:DEC) will be aware, they have not made a gain on their investment in the past three years. What is concerning is that despite positive EPS growth, the share price has not tracked the trend in fundamentals. These are some of the concerns that shareholders may want to bring up at the next AGM held on 7th of May. They could also try to influence management and firm direction through voting on resolutions such as executive remuneration and other company matters. Here's our take on why we think shareholders may want to be cautious of approving a raise for the CEO at the moment.

Check out our latest analysis for JCDecaux

How Does Total Compensation For Jean-François Decaux Compare With Other Companies In The Industry?

According to our data, JCDecaux SE has a market capitalization of €4.2b, and paid its CEO total annual compensation worth €2.4m over the year to December 2023. We note that's a decrease of 11% compared to last year. We think total compensation is more important but our data shows that the CEO salary is lower, at €1.1m.

In comparison with other companies in the French Media industry with market capitalizations ranging from €1.9b to €6.0b, the reported median CEO total compensation was €2.1m. So it looks like JCDecaux compensates Jean-François Decaux in line with the median for the industry. Moreover, Jean-François Decaux also holds €11m worth of JCDecaux stock directly under their own name, which reveals to us that they have a significant personal stake in the company.

Component	2023	2022	Proportion (2023)
Salary	€1.1m	€1.1m	45%
Other	€1.3m	€1.6m	55%
Total Compensation	€2.4m	€2.7m	100%

On an industry level, around 40% of total compensation represents salary and 60% is other remuneration. It's interesting to note that JCDecaux pays out a greater portion of remuneration through salary, compared to the industry. It's important to note that a slant towards non-salary compensation suggests that total pay is tied to the company's performance.

JCDecaux SE's Growth

JCDecaux SE has seen its earnings per share (EPS) increase by 119% a year over the past three years. In the last year, its revenue is up 7.2%.

This demonstrates that the company has been improving recently and is good news for the shareholders. It's good to see a bit of revenue growth, as this suggests the business is able to grow sustainably. Moving away from current form for a second, it could be important to check this free visual depiction of what analysts expect for the future.

Has JCDecaux SE Been A Good Investment?

With a three year total loss of 8.3% for the shareholders, JCDecaux SE would certainly have some dissatisfied shareholders. This suggests it would be unwise for the company to pay the CEO too generously.

In Summary...

The fact that shareholders are sitting on a loss on the value of their shares in the past few years is certainly disconcerting. A huge lag in share price growth when earnings have grown may indicate there could be other issues that are affecting the company at the moment that the market is focused on. If there are some unknown variables that are influencing the stock's price, surely shareholders would have some concerns. These concerns should be addressed at the upcoming AGM, where shareholders can question the board and evaluate if their judgement and decision making is still in line with their expectations.

CEO compensation is a crucial aspect to keep your eyes on but investors also need to keep their eyes open for other issues related to business performance. That's why we did some digging and identified 1 warning sign for JCDecaux 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. 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.