What We Learned About CRH's (ISE:CRG) CEO Pay

Albert Manifold has been the CEO of CRH plc (ISE:CRG) since 2014, and this article will examine the executive's compensation with respect to the overall performance of the company. This analysis will also look to assess whether the CEO is appropriately paid, considering recent earnings growth and investor returns for CRH.

Check out our latest analysis for CRH

How Does Total Compensation For Albert Manifold Compare With Other Companies In The Industry?

Our data indicates that CRH plc has a market capitalization of €25b, and total annual CEO compensation was reported as €10m for the year to December 2019. We note that's an increase of 11% above last year. We think total compensation is more important but our data shows that the CEO salary is lower, at €1.7m.

For comparison, other companies in the industry with market capitalizations above €6.6b, reported a median total CEO compensation of €1.6m. Hence, we can conclude that Albert Manifold is remunerated higher than the industry median. What's more, Albert Manifold holds €42k worth of shares in the company in their own name.

Talking in terms of the industry, salary represented approximately 38% of total compensation out of all the companies we analyzed, while other remuneration made up 62% of the pie. CRH pays a modest slice of remuneration through salary, as compared to the broader industry. If total compensation is slanted towards non-salary benefits, it indicates that CEO pay is linked to company performance.

CRH plc's Growth

Over the past three years, CRH plc has seen its earnings per share (EPS) grow by 8.3% per year. In the last year, its revenue is up 7.5%.

We're not particularly impressed by the revenue growth, but it is good to see modest EPS growth. It's clear the performance has been quite decent, but it it falls short of outstanding,based on this information. Moving away from current form for a second, it could be important to check this free visual depiction of what analysts expect for the future.

Has CRH plc Been A Good Investment?

CRH plc has generated a total shareholder return of 23% over three years, so most shareholders would 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.

In Summary...

As previously discussed, Albert is compensated more than what is normal for CEOs of companies of similar size, and which belong to the same industry. However, EPS growth is not moving in the right direction, and the returns to shareholders could have been better, over the last three years. So while shareholders might not be overly concerned about CEO compensation, we suspect most would prefer to see improved performance, before thinking a bump in pay is in order.

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 1 warning sign for CRH that investors should look into moving forward.

Important note: CRH 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. 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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