Should You Worry About Hydrogen Group Plc's (LON:HYDG) CEO Pay Cheque?

Want to participate in a short research study? Help shape the future of investing tools and you could win a $250 gift card!

Ian Temple became the CEO of Hydrogen Group Plc (LON:HYDG) in 2015. This report will, first, examine the CEO compensation levels in comparison to CEO compensation at companies of similar size. 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.

See our latest analysis for Hydrogen Group

How Does Ian Temple's Compensation Compare With Similar Sized Companies?

At the time of writing our data says that Hydrogen Group Plc has a market cap of UK£22m, and is paying total annual CEO compensation of UK£247k. (This number is for the twelve months until 2017). While this analysis focuses on total compensation, it's worth noting the salary is lower, valued at UK£220k. We looked at a group of companies with market capitalizations under UK£154m, and the median CEO compensation was UK£246k.

That means Ian Temple receives fairly typical remuneration for the CEO of a company that size. 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, below, how CEO compensation at Hydrogen Group has changed over time.

Is Hydrogen Group Plc Growing?

On average over the last three years, Hydrogen Group Plc has grown earnings per share (EPS) by 75% each year (using a line of best fit). Its revenue is up 21% over last year.

Overall this is a positive result for shareholders, showing that the company has improved in recent years. This sort of respectable year-on-year revenue growth is often seen at a healthy, growing business. We don't have analyst forecasts, but shareholders might want to examine this detailed historical graph of earnings, revenue and cash flow.

Has Hydrogen Group Plc Been A Good Investment?

Most shareholders would probably be pleased with Hydrogen Group Plc for providing a total return of 132% over three years. 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...

Ian Temple is paid around the same as most CEOs of similar size companies.

Few would be critical of the leadership, since returns have been juicy and earnings per share are moving in the right direction. So one could argue the CEO compensation is quite modest, if you consider company performance! Shareholders may want to check for free if Hydrogen Group insiders are buying or selling shares.

Important note: Hydrogen Group may not be the best stock to buy. You might find something better in this list of interesting companies with high ROE and low debt.

To help readers see past the short term volatility of the financial market, we aim to bring you a long-term focused research analysis purely driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis does not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements.

The author is an independent contributor and at the time of publication had no position in the stocks mentioned. For errors that warrant correction please contact the editor at editorial-team@simplywallst.com.

Simply Wall St analyst Simply Wall St and Simply Wall St have no position in any of the companies mentioned. This article 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.