Is Protector Forsikring ASA (OB:PROTCT) Overpaying Its CEO?

Sverre Bjerkeli has been the CEO of Protector Forsikring ASA (OB:PROTCT) since 2006. First, this article will compare CEO compensation with compensation at similar sized companies. After that, we will consider the growth in the business. Third, we'll reflect on the total return to shareholders over three years, as a second measure of business performance. This process should give us an idea about how appropriately the CEO is paid.

See our latest analysis for Protector Forsikring

How Does Sverre Bjerkeli's Compensation Compare With Similar Sized Companies?

According to our data, Protector Forsikring ASA has a market capitalization of øre4.3b, and pays its CEO total annual compensation worth øre9.9m. (This figure is for the year to December 2016). While this analysis focuses on total compensation, it's worth noting the salary is lower, valued at øre5.9m. When we examined a selection of companies with market caps ranging from øre1.7b to øre6.9b, we found the median CEO compensation was øre5.2m.

Thus we can conclude that Sverre Bjerkeli receives more in total compensation than the median of a group of companies in the same market, and of similar size to Protector Forsikring ASA. However, this doesn't necessarily mean the pay is too high. We can get a better idea of how generous the pay is by looking at the performance of the underlying business.

You can see, below, how CEO compensation at Protector Forsikring has changed over time.

Is Protector Forsikring ASA Growing?

Over the last three years Protector Forsikring ASA has shrunk its earnings per share by an average of 26% per year (measured with a line of best fit). Its revenue is down -16% over last year.

Sadly for shareholders, earnings per share are actually down, over three years. This is compounded by the fact revenue is actually down on last year. So given this relatively weak performance, shareholders would probably not want to see high compensation for the CEO. Shareholders might be interested in this free visualization of analyst forecasts.

Has Protector Forsikring ASA Been A Good Investment?

With a three year total loss of 24%, Protector Forsikring ASA would certainly have some dissatisfied shareholders. So shareholders would probably think the company shouldn't be too generous with CEO compensation.

In Summary...

We compared total CEO remuneration at Protector Forsikring ASA with the amount paid at companies with a similar market capitalization. We found that it pays well over the median amount paid in the benchmark group.

Earnings per share have not grown in three years, and the revenue growth fails to impress us.

Just as bad, share price gains for investors have failed to materialize, over the same period. This analysis suggests to us that the CEO is paid too generously! So you may want to check if insiders are buying Protector Forsikring shares with their own money (free access).

Important note: Protector Forsikring may not be the best stock to buy. You might find something better in this list of interesting companies with high ROE and low debt.

We aim to bring you long-term focused research analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material.

If you spot an error that warrants correction, please contact the editor at editorial-team@simplywallst.com. 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. Simply Wall St has no position in the stocks mentioned. Thank you for reading.