Shareholders May Be A Bit More Conservative With S&U plc's (LON:SUS) CEO Compensation For Now

Key Insights

• S&U will host its Annual General Meeting on 6th of June
• Total pay for CEO Anthony Michael Coombs includes UK£379.0k salary
• The total compensation is similar to the average for the industry
• Over the past three years, S&U's EPS grew by 20% and over the past three years, the total loss to shareholders 15%

In the past three years, the share price of S&U plc (LON:SUS) has struggled to generate growth for its shareholders. What is concerning is that despite positive EPS growth, the share price has not tracked the trend in fundamentals. The AGM coming up on the 6th of June could be an opportunity for shareholders to bring these concerns to the board's attention. They could also influence management through voting on resolutions such as executive remuneration. We discuss below why we think shareholders should be cautious of approving a raise for the CEO at the moment.

View our latest analysis for S&U

Comparing S&U plc's CEO Compensation With The Industry

According to our data, S&U plc has a market capitalization of UK£237m, and paid its CEO total annual compensation worth UK£467k over the year to January 2024. That's slightly lower by 7.7% over the previous year. We note that the salary portion, which stands at UK£379.0k constitutes the majority of total compensation received by the CEO.

On comparing similar companies from the British Consumer Finance industry with market caps ranging from UK£157m to UK£628m, we found that the median CEO total compensation was UK£626k. This suggests that S&U remunerates its CEO largely in line with the industry average. Furthermore, Anthony Michael Coombs directly owns UK£24m worth of shares in the company, implying that they are deeply invested in the company's success.

Component	2024	2023	Proportion (2024)
Salary	UK£379k	UK£374k	81%
Other	UK£88k	UK£132k	19%
Total Compensation	UK£467k	UK£506k	100%

Talking in terms of the industry, salary represented approximately 59% of total compensation out of all the companies we analyzed, while other remuneration made up 41% of the pie. According to our research, S&U has allocated a higher percentage of pay to salary in comparison to the wider industry. If salary is the major component in total compensation, it suggests that the CEO receives a higher fixed proportion of the total compensation, regardless of performance.

S&U plc's Growth

Over the past three years, S&U plc has seen its earnings per share (EPS) grow by 20% per year. In the last year, its revenue is down 6.4%.

Overall this is a positive result for shareholders, showing that the company has improved in recent years. It's always a tough situation when revenues are not growing, but ultimately profits are more important. Looking ahead, you might want to check this free visual report on analyst forecasts for the company's future earnings..

Has S&U plc Been A Good Investment?

With a three year total loss of 15% for the shareholders, S&U plc would certainly have some dissatisfied shareholders. So shareholders would probably want the company to be less generous with CEO compensation.

To Conclude...

The fact that shareholders are sitting on a loss on the value of their shares in the past few years is certainly disconcerting. The stock's movement is disjointed with the company's earnings growth, which ideally should move in the same direction. Shareholders would probably be keen to find out what are the other factors could be weighing down the stock. 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.

It is always advisable to analyse CEO pay, along with performing a thorough analysis of the company's key performance areas. In our study, we found 2 warning signs for S&U you should be aware of, and 1 of them is concerning.

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.