Does Wilmington plc's (LON:WIL) CEO Pay Compare Well With Peers?

In 2014 Pedro Ros was appointed CEO of Wilmington plc (LON:WIL). This report will, first, examine the CEO compensation levels in comparison to CEO compensation at companies of similar size. After that, we will consider the growth in the business. Third, we'll reflect on the total return to shareholders over three years, as a second measure of business performance. This method should give us information to assess how appropriately the company pays the CEO.

View our latest analysis for Wilmington

How Does Pedro Ros's Compensation Compare With Similar Sized Companies?

According to our data, Wilmington plc has a market capitalization of UK£159m, and pays its CEO total annual compensation worth UK£838k. (This figure is for the year to 2017). While this analysis focuses on total compensation, it's worth noting the salary is lower, valued at UK£360k. When we examined a selection of companies with market caps ranging from UK£79m to UK£315m, we found the median CEO compensation was UK£548k.

It would therefore appear that Wilmington plc pays Pedro Ros more than the median CEO remuneration at companies of a similar size, in the same market. However, this fact alone doesn't mean the remuneration is too high. We can get a better idea of how generous the pay is by looking at the performance of the underlying business.

You can see, below, how CEO compensation at Wilmington has changed over time.

Is Wilmington plc Growing?

Over the last three years Wilmington plc has grown its earnings per share (EPS) by an average of 8.7% per year. It achieved revenue growth of 1.5% over the last year.

I would argue that the improvement in revenue isn't particularly impressive, but I'm happy with the modest EPS growth. So there are some positives here, but not enough to earn high praise.

You might want to check this free visual report on analyst forecasts for future earnings.

Has Wilmington plc Been A Good Investment?

Since shareholders would have lost about 24% over three years, some Wilmington plc shareholders would surely be feeling negative emotions. It therefore might be upsetting for shareholders if the CEO were paid generously.

In Summary...

We compared the total CEO remuneration paid by Wilmington plc, and compared it to remuneration at a group of similar sized companies. As discussed above, we discovered that the company pays more than the median of that group.

The growth in the business has been uninspiring, but the shareholder returns have arguably been worse, over the last three years. Considering this, we have the opinion that the CEO pay is more on the generous side, than the modest side. So you may want to check if insiders are buying Wilmington shares with their own money (free access).

Or you could feast your eyes on this interactive graph depicting past earnings, cash flow and revenue.

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.