Most Shareholders Will Probably Agree With M&L Holdings Group Limited's (HKG:8152) CEO Compensation

Performance at M&L Holdings Group Limited (HKG:8152) has been rather uninspiring recently and shareholders may be wondering how CEO Lai Ming Ng plans to fix this. One way they can exercise their influence on management is through voting on resolutions, such as executive remuneration at the next AGM, coming up on 13 May 2021. Setting appropriate executive remuneration to align with the interests of shareholders may also be a way to influence the company performance in the long run. We have prepared some analysis below to show that CEO compensation looks to be reasonable.

See our latest analysis for M&L Holdings Group

Comparing M&L Holdings Group Limited's CEO Compensation With the industry

Our data indicates that M&L Holdings Group Limited has a market capitalization of HK$47m, and total annual CEO compensation was reported as HK$956k for the year to December 2020. That's a slight decrease of 3.7% on the prior year. We note that the salary portion, which stands at HK$938.0k constitutes the majority of total compensation received by the CEO.

In comparison with other companies in the industry with market capitalizations under HK$1.6b, the reported median total CEO compensation was HK$2.1m. In other words, M&L Holdings Group pays its CEO lower than the industry median. What's more, Lai Ming Ng holds HK$29m worth of shares in the company in their own name, indicating that they have a lot of skin in the game.

Component	2020	2019	Proportion (2020)
Salary	HK$938k	HK$975k	98%
Other	HK$18k	HK$18k	2%
Total Compensation	HK$956k	HK$993k	100%

On an industry level, around 95% of total compensation represents salary and 5% is other remuneration. M&L Holdings Group pays a high salary, concentrating more on this aspect of compensation in comparison to non-salary pay. 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.

M&L Holdings Group Limited's Growth

Over the past three years, M&L Holdings Group Limited has seen its earnings per share (EPS) grow by 15% per year. It saw its revenue drop 50% over the last year.

Shareholders would be glad to know that the company has improved itself over the last few years. While it would be good to see revenue growth, profits matter more in the end. We don't have analyst forecasts, but you could get a better understanding of its growth by checking out this more detailed historical graph of earnings, revenue and cash flow.

Has M&L Holdings Group Limited Been A Good Investment?

Few M&L Holdings Group Limited shareholders would feel satisfied with the return of -77% over three years. Therefore, it might be upsetting for shareholders if the CEO were paid generously.

In Summary...

M&L Holdings Group pays its CEO a majority of compensation through a salary. The fact that shareholders have earned a negative share price return is certainly disconcerting. This diverges with the robust growth in EPS, suggesting that there is a large discrepancy between share price and fundamentals. A key focus for the board and management will be how to align the share price with fundamentals. The upcoming AGM will provide shareholders the opportunity to raise their concerns and evaluate if the board’s judgement and decision-making is aligned with their expectations.

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. We did our research and spotted 2 warning signs for M&L Holdings Group that investors should look into moving forward.

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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