We Think Shareholders Are Less Likely To Approve A Pay Rise For Nexi S.p.A.'s (BIT:NEXI) CEO For Now

Key Insights

• Nexi's Annual General Meeting to take place on 30th of April
• CEO Paolo Bertoluzzo's total compensation includes salary of €1.50m
• The overall pay is comparable to the industry average
• Nexi's EPS grew by 50% over the past three years while total shareholder loss over the past three years was 44%

We've discovered 1 warning sign about Nexi. View them for free.

In the past three years, the share price of Nexi S.p.A. (BIT:NEXI) has struggled to grow and now shareholders are sitting on a loss. Despite positive EPS growth in the past few years, the share price hasn't tracked the fundamental performance of the company. The AGM coming up on the 30th of April could be an opportunity for shareholders to bring these concerns to the board's attention. They could also influence management through voting on resolutions such as executive remuneration. We think shareholders might be reluctant to increase compensation for the CEO at the moment, according to our analysis below.

Check out our latest analysis for Nexi

How Does Total Compensation For Paolo Bertoluzzo Compare With Other Companies In The Industry?

According to our data, Nexi S.p.A. has a market capitalization of €6.1b, and paid its CEO total annual compensation worth €4.5m over the year to December 2024. That's a fairly small increase of 5.2% over the previous year. While this analysis focuses on total compensation, it's worth acknowledging that the salary portion is lower, valued at €1.5m.

In comparison with other companies in the Italian Diversified Financial industry with market capitalizations ranging from €3.5b to €11b, the reported median CEO total compensation was €5.3m. This suggests that Nexi remunerates its CEO largely in line with the industry average.

Component	2024	2023	Proportion (2024)
Salary	€1.5m	€1.5m	34%
Other	€3.0m	€2.7m	66%
Total Compensation	€4.5m	€4.2m	100%

On an industry level, roughly 49% of total compensation represents salary and 51% is other remuneration. In Nexi's case, non-salary compensation represents a greater slice of total remuneration, in comparison to the broader industry. If non-salary compensation dominates total pay, it's an indicator that the executive's salary is tied to company performance.

A Look at Nexi S.p.A.'s Growth Numbers

Over the past three years, Nexi S.p.A. has seen its earnings per share (EPS) grow by 50% per year. In the last year, its revenue is up 6.6%.

Shareholders would be glad to know that the company has improved itself over the last few years. It's also good to see modest revenue growth, suggesting the underlying business is healthy. 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 Nexi S.p.A. Been A Good Investment?

Few Nexi S.p.A. shareholders would feel satisfied with the return of -44% over three years. This suggests it would be unwise for the company to pay the CEO too generously.

To Conclude...

Shareholders have not seen their shares grow in value, rather they have seen their shares decline. A huge lag in share price growth when earnings have grown may indicate there could be other issues that are affecting the company at the moment that the market is focused on. If there are some unknown variables that are influencing the stock's price, surely shareholders would have some concerns. These concerns should be addressed at the upcoming AGM, where shareholders can question the board and evaluate if their judgement and decision making is still in line with their expectations.

While CEO pay is an important factor to be aware of, there are other areas that investors should be mindful of as well. That's why we did some digging and identified 1 warning sign for Nexi that you should be aware of before investing.

Switching gears from Nexi, if you're hunting for a pristine balance sheet and premium returns, this free list of high return, low debt companies is a great place to look.

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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.