Contact Energy Limited's (NZSE:CEN) CEO Will Probably Have Their Compensation Approved By Shareholders
Key Insights
- Contact Energy will host its Annual General Meeting on 16th of September
- Salary of NZ$1.29m is part of CEO Mike Fuge's total remuneration
- The total compensation is similar to the average for the industry
- Over the past three years, Contact Energy's EPS grew by 13% and over the past three years, the total shareholder return was 34%
We have been pretty impressed with the performance at Contact Energy Limited (NZSE:CEN) recently and CEO Mike Fuge deserves a mention for their role in it. The pleasing results would be something shareholders would keep in mind at the upcoming AGM on 16th of September. This would also be a chance for them to hear the board review the financial results, discuss future company strategy and vote on any resolutions such as executive remuneration. We think the CEO has done a pretty decent job and we discuss why the CEO compensation is appropriate.
View our latest analysis for Contact Energy
Comparing Contact Energy Limited's CEO Compensation With The Industry
At the time of writing, our data shows that Contact Energy Limited has a market capitalization of NZ$9.0b, and reported total annual CEO compensation of NZ$2.8m for the year to June 2025. Notably, that's an increase of 16% over the year before. We think total compensation is more important but our data shows that the CEO salary is lower, at NZ$1.3m.
In comparison with other companies in the New Zealand Electric Utilities industry with market capitalizations ranging from NZ$6.7b to NZ$20b, the reported median CEO total compensation was NZ$2.3m. So it looks like Contact Energy compensates Mike Fuge in line with the median for the industry.
| Component | 2025 | 2024 | Proportion (2025) |
| Salary | NZ$1.3m | NZ$1.2m | 46% |
| Other | NZ$1.5m | NZ$1.2m | 54% |
| Total Compensation | NZ$2.8m | NZ$2.4m | 100% |
Talking in terms of the industry, salary represented approximately 61% of total compensation out of all the companies we analyzed, while other remuneration made up 39% of the pie. In Contact Energy'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 Contact Energy Limited's Growth Numbers
Over the past three years, Contact Energy Limited has seen its earnings per share (EPS) grow by 13% per year. In the last year, its revenue is up 20%.
This demonstrates that the company has been improving recently and is good news for the shareholders. It's also good to see decent revenue growth in the last year, suggesting the business is healthy and growing. 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 Contact Energy Limited Been A Good Investment?
Boasting a total shareholder return of 34% over three years, Contact Energy Limited has done well by shareholders. This strong performance might mean some shareholders don't mind if the CEO were to be paid more than is normal for a company of its size.
To Conclude...
The company's solid performance might have made most shareholders happy, possibly making CEO remuneration the least of the matters to be discussed in the AGM. In fact, strategic decisions that could impact the future of the business might be a far more interesting topic for investors as it would help them set their longer-term expectations.
It is always advisable to analyse CEO pay, along with performing a thorough analysis of the company's key performance areas. That's why we did our research, and identified 3 warning signs for Contact Energy (of which 1 makes us a bit uncomfortable!) that you should know about in order to have a holistic understanding of the stock.
Arguably, business quality is much more important than CEO compensation levels. So check out this free list of interesting companies that have HIGH return on equity and low debt.
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