Most Shareholders Will Probably Agree With Mowi ASA's (OB:MOWI) CEO Compensation

Key Insights

• Mowi to hold its Annual General Meeting on 30th of May
• Salary of €642.0k is part of CEO Ivan Vindheim's total remuneration
• The overall pay is 46% below the industry average
• Over the past three years, Mowi's EPS fell by 8.0% and over the past three years, the total shareholder return was 2.9%

Shareholders may be wondering what CEO Ivan Vindheim plans to do to improve the less than great performance at Mowi ASA (OB:MOWI) recently. One way they can exercise their influence on management is through voting on resolutions, such as executive remuneration at the next AGM, coming up on 30th of May. Voting on executive pay could be a powerful way to influence management, as studies have shown that the right compensation incentives impact company performance. In our opinion, CEO compensation does not look excessive and we discuss why.

View our latest analysis for Mowi

Comparing Mowi ASA's CEO Compensation With The Industry

According to our data, Mowi ASA has a market capitalization of kr101b, and paid its CEO total annual compensation worth €933k over the year to December 2023. That's a notable decrease of 44% on last year. We note that the salary portion, which stands at €642.0k constitutes the majority of total compensation received by the CEO.

On comparing similar companies from the Norwegian Food industry with market caps ranging from kr43b to kr128b, we found that the median CEO total compensation was €1.7m. In other words, Mowi pays its CEO lower than the industry median. Moreover, Ivan Vindheim also holds kr1.5m worth of Mowi stock directly under their own name.

Component	2023	2022	Proportion (2023)
Salary	€642k	€702k	69%
Other	€291k	€961k	31%
Total Compensation	€933k	€1.7m	100%

Talking in terms of the industry, salary represented approximately 65% of total compensation out of all the companies we analyzed, while other remuneration made up 35% of the pie. There isn't a significant difference between Mowi and the broader market, in terms of salary allocation in the overall compensation package. If salary dominates total compensation, it suggests that CEO compensation is leaning less towards the variable component, which is usually linked with performance.

Mowi ASA's Growth

Over the last three years, Mowi ASA has shrunk its earnings per share by 8.0% per year. It achieved revenue growth of 5.1% over the last year.

The decline in EPS is a bit concerning. The fairly low revenue growth fails to impress given that the EPS is down. So given this relatively weak performance, shareholders would probably not want to see high compensation for the CEO. Historical performance can sometimes be a good indicator on what's coming up next but if you want to peer into the company's future you might be interested in this free visualization of analyst forecasts.

Has Mowi ASA Been A Good Investment?

With a total shareholder return of 2.9% over three years, Mowi ASA has done okay by shareholders, but there's always room for improvement. As a result, investors in the company might be reluctant about agreeing to increase CEO pay in the future, before seeing an improvement on their returns.

To Conclude...

Shareholder returns while positive, need to be looked at along with earnings, which have failed to grow and this could mean that the current momentum may not continue. These are are some concerns that shareholders may want to address the board when they revisit their investment thesis.

CEO compensation can have a massive impact on performance, but it's just one element. That's why we did some digging and identified 3 warning signs for Mowi that you should be aware of before investing.

Important note: Mowi 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.