Why We Think Shareholders May Be Considering Bumping Up Apex Healthcare Berhad's (KLSE:AHEALTH) CEO Compensation

Key Insights

• Apex Healthcare Berhad's Annual General Meeting to take place on 15th of May
• Total pay for CEO Kirk Kee includes RM51.7k salary
• The overall pay is 52% below the industry average
• Apex Healthcare Berhad's EPS grew by 91% over the past three years while total shareholder return over the past three years was 90%

Shareholders will be pleased by the impressive results for Apex Healthcare Berhad (KLSE:AHEALTH) recently and CEO Kirk Kee has played a key role. At the upcoming AGM on 15th of May, they would be interested to hear about the company strategy going forward and get a chance to cast their votes on resolutions such as executive remuneration and other company matters. We think the CEO has done a pretty decent job and probably deserves a well-earned pay rise.

View our latest analysis for Apex Healthcare Berhad

How Does Total Compensation For Kirk Kee Compare With Other Companies In The Industry?

At the time of writing, our data shows that Apex Healthcare Berhad has a market capitalization of RM2.4b, and reported total annual CEO compensation of RM283k for the year to December 2023. That's a notable decrease of 12% on last year. We think total compensation is more important but our data shows that the CEO salary is lower, at RM52k.

On examining similar-sized companies in the Malaysia Pharmaceuticals industry with market capitalizations between RM948m and RM3.8b, we discovered that the median CEO total compensation of that group was RM591k. That is to say, Kirk Kee is paid under the industry median. What's more, Kirk Kee holds RM29m worth of shares in the company in their own name, indicating that they have a lot of skin in the game.

Component	2023	2022	Proportion (2023)
Salary	RM52k	RM51k	18%
Other	RM232k	RM270k	82%
Total Compensation	RM283k	RM321k	100%

Talking in terms of the industry, salary represented approximately 75% of total compensation out of all the companies we analyzed, while other remuneration made up 25% of the pie. Apex Healthcare Berhad 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.

Apex Healthcare Berhad's Growth

Apex Healthcare Berhad has seen its earnings per share (EPS) increase by 91% a year over the past three years. Its revenue is up 6.7% over the last year.

Overall this is a positive result for shareholders, showing that the company has improved in recent years. It's nice to see revenue heading northwards, as this is consistent with healthy business conditions. 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 Apex Healthcare Berhad Been A Good Investment?

We think that the total shareholder return of 90%, over three years, would leave most Apex Healthcare Berhad shareholders smiling. As a result, some may believe the CEO should be paid more than is normal for companies of similar size.

In Summary...

Given the company's decent performance, the CEO remuneration policy might not be shareholders' central point of focus in the AGM. However, investors will get the chance to engage on key strategic initiatives and future growth opportunities for the company and set their longer-term expectations.

We can learn a lot about a company by studying its CEO compensation trends, along with looking at other aspects of the business. That's why we did our research, and identified 3 warning signs for Apex Healthcare Berhad (of which 2 are a bit unpleasant!) that you should know about in order to have a holistic understanding of the stock.

Switching gears from Apex Healthcare 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.

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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.