Is Hochschild Mining plc's (LON:HOC) CEO Pay Justified?

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Ignacio Bustamante became the CEO of Hochschild Mining plc (LON:HOC) in 2010. 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. Third, we'll reflect on the total return to shareholders over three years, as a second measure of business performance. This method should give us information to assess how appropriately the company pays the CEO.

See our latest analysis for Hochschild Mining

How Does Ignacio Bustamante's Compensation Compare With Similar Sized Companies?

At the time of writing our data says that Hochschild Mining plc has a market cap of UK£868m, and is paying total annual CEO compensation of US$4.1m. (This is based on the year to December 2018). That's less than last year. While this analysis focuses on total compensation, it's worth noting the salary is lower, valued at US$700k. We looked at a group of companies with market capitalizations from US$400m to US$1.6b, and the median CEO total compensation was US$1.1m.

As you can see, Ignacio Bustamante is paid more than the median CEO pay at companies of a similar size, in the same market. However, this does not necessarily mean Hochschild Mining plc is paying too much. A closer look at the performance of the underlying business will give us a better idea about whether the pay is particularly generous.

You can see, below, how CEO compensation at Hochschild Mining has changed over time.

LSE:HOC CEO Compensation, June 10th 2019
LSE:HOC CEO Compensation, June 10th 2019

Is Hochschild Mining plc Growing?

Over the last three years Hochschild Mining plc has grown its earnings per share (EPS) by an average of 110% per year (using a line of best fit). Its revenue is down -2.5% over last year.

Overall this is a positive result for shareholders, showing that the company has improved in recent years. While it would be good to see revenue growth, profits matter more in the end. Shareholders might be interested in this free visualization of analyst forecasts.

Has Hochschild Mining plc Been A Good Investment?

Hochschild Mining plc has generated a total shareholder return of 9.2% over three years, so most shareholders wouldn't be too disappointed. But they probably don't want to see the CEO paid more than is normal for companies around the same size.

In Summary...

We examined the amount Hochschild Mining plc pays its CEO, and compared it to the amount paid by similar sized companies. As discussed above, we discovered that the company pays more than the median of that group.