Marc Voigt has been the CEO of Immutep Limited (ASX:IMM) since 2014. First, this article will compare CEO compensation with compensation at similar sized companies. Then we'll look at a snap shot of the business growth. And finally - as a second measure of performance - we will look at the returns shareholders have received over the last few years. This method should give us information to assess how appropriately the company pays the CEO.

Check out our latest analysis for Immutep

How Does Marc Voigt's Compensation Compare With Similar Sized Companies?

At the time of writing our data says that Immutep Limited has a market cap of AU$85m, and is paying total annual CEO compensation of AU$1.3m. (This is based on the year to June 2018). While this analysis focuses on total compensation, it's worth noting the salary is lower, valued at AU$401k. We took a group of companies with market capitalizations below AU$296m, and calculated the median CEO total compensation to be AU$359k.

As you can see, Marc Voigt is paid more than the median CEO pay at companies of a similar size, in the same market. However, this does not necessarily mean Immutep Limited is paying too much. We can better assess whether the pay is overly generous by looking into the underlying business performance.

The graphic below shows how CEO compensation at Immutep has changed from year to year.

Is Immutep Limited Growing?

Immutep Limited has increased its earnings per share (EPS) by an average of 56% a year, over the last three years (using a line of best fit). In the last year, its revenue is down -18%.

This shows that the company has improved itself over the last few years. Good news for shareholders. The lack of revenue growth isn't ideal, but it is the bottom line that counts most in business. Shareholders might be interested in this free visualization of analyst forecasts.

Has Immutep Limited Been A Good Investment?

Given the total loss of 42% over three years, many shareholders in Immutep Limited are probably rather dissatisfied, to say the least. This suggests it would be unwise for the company to pay the CEO too generously.

In Summary...

We compared total CEO remuneration at Immutep Limited with the amount paid at companies with a similar market capitalization. As discussed above, we discovered that the company pays more than the median of that group.

However we must not forget that the EPS growth has been very strong over three years. On the other hand returns to investors over the same period have probably disappointed many. One might thus conclude that it would be better if the company waited until growth is reflected in the share price, before increasing CEO compensation. So you may want to check if insiders are buying Immutep shares with their own money (free access).