Michael Huntly is the CEO of Ensurance Limited (ASX:ENA). This report will, first, examine the CEO compensation levels in comparison to CEO compensation at companies of similar size. 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 Ensurance

How Does Michael Huntly's Compensation Compare With Similar Sized Companies?

At the time of writing, our data says that Ensurance Limited has a market cap of AU$6.3m, and reported total annual CEO compensation of AU$253k for the year to June 2019. While we always look at total compensation first, we note that the salary component is less, at AU$231k. We took a group of companies with market capitalizations below AU$292m, and calculated the median CEO total compensation to be AU$381k.

A first glance this seems like a real positive for shareholders, since Michael Huntly is paid less than the average total compensation paid by similar sized companies. Though positive, it's important we delve into the performance of the actual business.

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

Is Ensurance Limited Growing?

Over the last three years Ensurance Limited has grown its earnings per share (EPS) by an average of 32% per year (using a line of best fit). Its revenue is up 105% over last year.

This shows that the company has improved itself over the last few years. Good news for shareholders. The combination of strong revenue growth with medium-term earnings per share improvement certainly points to the kind of growth I like to see. We don't have analyst forecasts, but shareholders might want to examine this detailed historical graph of earnings, revenue and cash flow.

Has Ensurance Limited Been A Good Investment?

Given the total loss of 92% over three years, many shareholders in Ensurance Limited are probably rather dissatisfied, to say the least. So shareholders would probably think the company shouldn't be too generous with CEO compensation.

In Summary...

It looks like Ensurance Limited pays its CEO less than similar sized companies.

Considering the underlying business is growing earnings, this would suggest the pay is modest. Unfortunately, some shareholders may be disappointed with their returns, given the company's performance over the last three years. So while we would not say that Michael Huntly is generously paid, it would be good to see an improvement in business performance before too an increase in pay. In this case we may want to look deeper into the company. There are some real positives and we could see improved returns in the longer term. If you think CEO compensation levels are interesting you will probably really like this free visualization of insider trading at Ensurance.