Should You Worry About OPG Power Ventures Plc's (LON:OPG) CEO Pay?

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Arvind Gupta has been the CEO of OPG Power Ventures Plc (LON:OPG) since 2008. First, this article will compare CEO compensation with compensation at similar sized companies. 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. The aim of all this is to consider the appropriateness of CEO pay levels.

Check out our latest analysis for OPG Power Ventures

How Does Arvind Gupta's Compensation Compare With Similar Sized Companies?

Our data indicates that OPG Power Ventures Plc is worth UK£87m, and total annual CEO compensation is UK£750k. (This is based on the year to 2018). It is worth noting that the CEO compensation consists almost entirely of the salary, worth UK£750k. We looked at a group of companies with market capitalizations under UK£155m, and the median CEO compensation was UK£245k.

It would therefore appear that OPG Power Ventures Plc pays Arvind Gupta 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 OPG Power Ventures has changed over time.

Is OPG Power Ventures Plc Growing?

Over the last three years OPG Power Ventures Plc has shrunk its earnings per share by an average of 13% per year (measured with a line of best fit). Its revenue is up 78% over last year.

The reduction in earnings per share, over three years, is arguably concerning. But in contrast the revenue growth is strong, suggesting future potential for earnings growth. These two metric are moving in different directions, so while it's hard to be confident judging performance, we think the stock is worth watching. You might want to check this free visual report on analyst forecasts for future earnings.

Has OPG Power Ventures Plc Been A Good Investment?

Since shareholders would have lost about 67% over three years, some OPG Power Ventures Plc shareholders would surely be feeling negative emotions. This suggests it would be unwise for the company to pay the CEO too generously.

In Summary...

We compared the total CEO remuneration paid by OPG Power Ventures Plc, and compared it to remuneration at a group of similar sized companies. We found that it pays well over the median amount paid in the benchmark group.

Over the last three years, shareholder returns have been downright disappointing, and the underlying business has failed to impress us. Although we'd stop short of calling it inappropriate, we think the CEO compensation is probably more on the generous side of things. So you may want to check if insiders are buying OPG Power Ventures shares with their own money (free access).

If you want to buy a stock that is better than OPG Power Ventures, this freelist of high return, low debt companies is a great place to look.

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.