Shareholders May Be More Conservative With Keck Seng (Malaysia) Berhad's (KLSE:KSENG) CEO Compensation For Now

Key Insights

• Keck Seng (Malaysia) Berhad's Annual General Meeting to take place on 29th of May
• Salary of RM3.18m is part of CEO Cheng Chong Ho's total remuneration
• The overall pay is 309% above the industry average
• Keck Seng (Malaysia) Berhad's EPS grew by 22% over the past three years while total shareholder return over the past three years was 48%

This technology could replace computers: discover the 20 stocks are working to make quantum computing a reality.

Performance at Keck Seng (Malaysia) Berhad (KLSE:KSENG) has been reasonably good and CEO Cheng Chong Ho has done a decent job of steering the company in the right direction. As shareholders go into the upcoming AGM on 29th of May, CEO compensation will probably not be their focus, but rather the steps management will take to continue the growth momentum. However, some shareholders may still want to keep CEO compensation within reason.

View our latest analysis for Keck Seng (Malaysia) Berhad

Comparing Keck Seng (Malaysia) Berhad's CEO Compensation With The Industry

Our data indicates that Keck Seng (Malaysia) Berhad has a market capitalization of RM1.9b, and total annual CEO compensation was reported as RM5.1m for the year to December 2024. That's a fairly small increase of 6.9% over the previous year. In particular, the salary of RM3.18m, makes up a huge portion of the total compensation being paid to the CEO.

In comparison with other companies in the Malaysian Food industry with market capitalizations ranging from RM855m to RM3.4b, the reported median CEO total compensation was RM1.2m. This suggests that Cheng Chong Ho is paid more than the median for the industry. Moreover, Cheng Chong Ho also holds RM132m worth of Keck Seng (Malaysia) Berhad stock directly under their own name, which reveals to us that they have a significant personal stake in the company.

Speaking on an industry level, nearly 64% of total compensation represents salary, while the remainder of 36% is other remuneration. Although there is a difference in how total compensation is set, Keck Seng (Malaysia) Berhad more or less reflects the market in terms of setting the salary. If salary dominates total compensation, it suggests that CEO compensation is leaning less towards the variable component, which is usually linked with performance.

A Look at Keck Seng (Malaysia) Berhad's Growth Numbers

Keck Seng (Malaysia) Berhad's earnings per share (EPS) grew 22% per year over the last three years. It achieved revenue growth of 16% over the last year.

This demonstrates that the company has been improving recently and is good news for the shareholders. This sort of respectable year-on-year revenue growth is often seen at a healthy, growing business. 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 Keck Seng (Malaysia) Berhad Been A Good Investment?

Most shareholders would probably be pleased with Keck Seng (Malaysia) Berhad for providing a total return of 48% over three years. As a result, some may believe the CEO should be paid more than is normal for companies of similar size.

In Summary...

The company's decent performance might have made most shareholders happy, possibly making CEO remuneration the least of the concerns to be discussed 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 compensation can have a massive impact on performance, but it's just one element. We've identified 2 warning signs for Keck Seng (Malaysia) Berhad that investors should be aware of in a dynamic business environment.

Switching gears from Keck Seng (Malaysia) Berhad, 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.

Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team (at) simplywallst.com.

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.