Shareholders May Be More Conservative With Sabre Insurance Group plc's (LON:SBRE) CEO Compensation For Now

CEO Geoff Carter has done a decent job of delivering relatively good performance at Sabre Insurance Group plc (LON:SBRE) recently. As shareholders go into the upcoming AGM on 14 May 2021, CEO compensation will probably not be their focus, but rather the steps management will take to continue the growth momentum. However, some shareholders will still be cautious of paying the CEO excessively.

See our latest analysis for Sabre Insurance Group

How Does Total Compensation For Geoff Carter Compare With Other Companies In The Industry?

At the time of writing, our data shows that Sabre Insurance Group plc has a market capitalization of UK£650m, and reported total annual CEO compensation of UK£1.1m for the year to December 2020. We note that's an increase of 35% above last year. While we always look at total compensation first, our analysis shows that the salary component is less, at UK£432k.

On comparing similar companies from the same industry with market caps ranging from UK£288m to UK£1.2b, we found that the median CEO total compensation was UK£822k. Hence, we can conclude that Geoff Carter is remunerated higher than the industry median. Moreover, Geoff Carter also holds UK£4.1m worth of Sabre Insurance Group stock directly under their own name, which reveals to us that they have a significant personal stake in the company.

Component	2020	2019	Proportion (2020)
Salary	UK£432k	UK£419k	39%
Other	UK£677k	UK£402k	61%
Total Compensation	UK£1.1m	UK£821k	100%

On an industry level, roughly 39% of total compensation represents salary and 61% is other remuneration. Although there is a difference in how total compensation is set, Sabre Insurance Group more or less reflects the market in terms of setting the salary. It's important to note that a slant towards non-salary compensation suggests that total pay is tied to the company's performance.

A Look at Sabre Insurance Group plc's Growth Numbers

Over the past three years, Sabre Insurance Group plc has seen its earnings per share (EPS) grow by 3.3% per year. It saw its revenue drop 8.9% over the last year.

We generally like to see a little revenue growth, but the modest improvement in EPS is good. It's hard to reach a conclusion about business performance right now. This may be one to watch. Historical performance can sometimes be a good indicator on what's coming up next but if you want to peer into the company's future you might be interested in this free visualization of analyst forecasts.

Has Sabre Insurance Group plc Been A Good Investment?

With a total shareholder return of 16% over three years, Sabre Insurance Group plc shareholders would, in general, be reasonably content. But they probably wouldn't be so happy as to think the CEO should be paid more than is normal, for companies around this size.

To Conclude...

Given that the company's overall performance has been reasonable, the CEO remuneration policy might not be shareholders' central point of focus in the upcoming AGM. However, any decision to raise CEO pay might be met with some objections from the shareholders given that the CEO is already paid higher than the industry average.

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 Sabre Insurance Group that you should be aware of before investing.

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. 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.
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