Does Speedcast International Limited's (ASX:SDA) CEO Salary Reflect Performance?

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In 2004 PJ Beylier was appointed CEO of Speedcast International Limited (ASX:SDA). This analysis aims first to contrast CEO compensation with other companies that have similar market capitalization. Then we'll look at a snap shot of the business growth. And finally we will reflect on how common stockholders have fared in the last few years, as a secondary measure of performance. The aim of all this is to consider the appropriateness of CEO pay levels.

View our latest analysis for Speedcast International

How Does PJ Beylier's Compensation Compare With Similar Sized Companies?

Our data indicates that Speedcast International Limited is worth AU$885m, and total annual CEO compensation is US$1.0m. (This number is for the twelve months until December 2018). That's a modest increase of 0.09% on the prior year year. We think total compensation is more important but we note that the CEO salary is lower, at US$512k. As part of our analysis we looked at companies in the same jurisdiction, with market capitalizations of US$400m to US$1.6b. The median total CEO compensation was US$1.0m.

So PJ Beylier is paid around the average of the companies we looked at. This doesn't tell us a whole lot on its own, but looking at the performance of the actual business will give us useful context.

You can see, below, how CEO compensation at Speedcast International has changed over time.

ASX:SDA CEO Compensation, June 19th 2019
ASX:SDA CEO Compensation, June 19th 2019

Is Speedcast International Limited Growing?

Speedcast International Limited has reduced its earnings per share by an average of 27% a year, over the last three years (measured with a line of best fit). It achieved revenue growth of 21% over the last year.

Few shareholders would be pleased to read that earnings per share are lower over three years. And while it's good to see some good revenue growth recently, the growth isn't really fast enough for me to put aside my concerns around earnings. So given this relatively weak performance, shareholders would probably not want to see high compensation for the CEO. It could be important to check this free visual depiction of what analysts expect for the future.

Has Speedcast International Limited Been A Good Investment?

With a total shareholder return of 11% over three years, Speedcast International Limited shareholders would, in general, be reasonably content. But they probably wouldn't be so happy as to think the CEO should be paid more than is normal, for companies around this size.