Kevin Rountree became the CEO of Games Workshop Group PLC (LON:GAW) in 2015. First, this article will compare CEO compensation with compensation at similar sized companies. Next, we’ll consider growth that the business demonstrates. And finally we will reflect on how common stockholders have fared in the last few years, as a secondary measure of performance. The aim of all this is to consider the appropriateness of CEO pay levels.
See our latest analysis for Games Workshop Group
How Does Kevin Rountree’s Compensation Compare With Similar Sized Companies?
At the time of writing our data says that Games Workshop Group PLC has a market cap of UK£945m, and is paying total annual CEO compensation of UK£438k. (This number is for the twelve months until 2018). Notably, the salary of UK£428k is the vast majority of the CEO compensation. We looked at a group of companies with market capitalizations from UK£784m to UK£2.5b, and the median CEO compensation was UK£1.5m.
Most shareholders would consider it a positive that Kevin Rountree takes less compensation than the CEOs of most similar size companies, leaving more for shareholders. While this is a good thing, you’ll need to understand the business better before you can form an opinion.
You can see a visual representation of the CEO compensation at Games Workshop Group, below.
Is Games Workshop Group PLC Growing?
Games Workshop Group PLC has increased its earnings per share (EPS) by an average of 61% a year, over the last three years Its revenue is up 38% over last year.
Overall this is a positive result for shareholders, showing that the company has improved in recent years. The combination of strong revenue growth with medium-term earnings per share improvement certainly points to the kind of growth I like to see.
You might want to check this free visual report on analyst forecasts for future earnings.
Has Games Workshop Group PLC Been A Good Investment?
I think that the total shareholder return of 519%, over three years, would leave most Games Workshop Group PLC shareholders smiling. This strong performance might mean some shareholders don’t mind if the CEO is paid more than is normal for a company of its size.
In Summary…
It appears that Games Workshop Group PLC remunerates its CEO below most similar sized companies. Many would consider this to indicate that the pay is modest since the business is growing. The strong history of shareholder returns might even have some thinking that Kevin Rountree deserves a raise!
Most shareholders like to see a modestly paid CEO combined with strong performance by the company. The cherry on top would be if company insiders are buying shares with their own money. If you think CEO compensation levels are interesting you will probably really like this free visualization of insider trading at Games Workshop Group.
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.