We Think Shareholders Are Less Likely To Approve A Large Pay Rise For Celestial Asia Securities Holdings Limited's (HKG:1049) CEO For Now

Performance at Celestial Asia Securities Holdings Limited (HKG:1049) has been reasonably good and CEO Bankee Kwan has done a decent job of steering the company in the right direction. In light of this performance, CEO compensation will probably not be the main focus for shareholders as they go into the AGM on 23 December 2022. However, some shareholders may still be hesitant of being overly generous with CEO compensation.

Check out our latest analysis for Celestial Asia Securities Holdings

How Does Total Compensation For Bankee Kwan Compare With Other Companies In The Industry?

According to our data, Celestial Asia Securities Holdings Limited has a market capitalization of HK$163m, and paid its CEO total annual compensation worth HK$3.0m over the year to December 2021. Notably, that's an increase of 91% over the year before. Notably, the salary which is HK$2.40m, represents most of the total compensation being paid.

For comparison, other companies in the Hong Kong Specialty Retail industry with market capitalizations below HK$1.6b, reported a median total CEO compensation of HK$1.7m. This suggests that Bankee Kwan is paid more than the median for the industry. What's more, Bankee Kwan holds HK$81m worth of shares in the company in their own name, indicating that they have a lot of skin in the game.

Component	2021	2020	Proportion (2021)
Salary	HK$2.4m	HK$1.5m	81%
Other	HK$574k	HK$42k	19%
Total Compensation	HK$3.0m	HK$1.6m	100%

Speaking on an industry level, nearly 85% of total compensation represents salary, while the remainder of 15% is other remuneration. Our data reveals that Celestial Asia Securities Holdings allocates salary more or less in line with the wider market. If total compensation veers towards salary, it suggests that the variable portion - which is generally tied to performance, is lower.

Celestial Asia Securities Holdings Limited's Growth

Over the past three years, Celestial Asia Securities Holdings Limited has seen its earnings per share (EPS) grow by 91% per year. In the last year, its revenue is down 5.4%.

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. Although we don't have analyst forecasts, you might want to assess this data-rich visualization of earnings, revenue and cash flow.

Has Celestial Asia Securities Holdings Limited Been A Good Investment?

Celestial Asia Securities Holdings Limited has generated a total shareholder return of 28% over three years, so most shareholders would be reasonably content. But they would probably prefer not to see CEO compensation far in excess of the median.

To Conclude...

Seeing that the company has put up a decent performance, only a few shareholders, if any at all, might have questions about the CEO pay in the upcoming AGM. Still, not all shareholders might be in favor of a pay raise to the CEO, seeing that they are already being paid higher than the industry.

CEO pay is simply one of the many factors that need to be considered while examining business performance. That's why we did our research, and identified 3 warning signs for Celestial Asia Securities Holdings (of which 1 is a bit unpleasant!) that you should know about in order to have a holistic understanding of the stock.

Important note: Celestial Asia Securities Holdings is an exciting stock, but we understand investors may be looking for an unencumbered balance sheet and blockbuster returns. You might find something better in this list of interesting companies with high ROE 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.