Iván Arriagada Herrera has been the CEO of Antofagasta plc (LON:ANTO) since 2016, and this article will examine the executive's compensation with respect to the overall performance of the company. This analysis will also look to assess whether the CEO is appropriately paid, considering recent earnings growth and investor returns for Antofagasta.
See our latest analysis for Antofagasta
Comparing Antofagasta plc's CEO Compensation With the industry
Our data indicates that Antofagasta plc has a market capitalization of UK£14b, and total annual CEO compensation was reported as US$2.7m for the year to December 2019. We note that's an increase of 8.8% above last year. While we always look at total compensation first, our analysis shows that the salary component is less, at US$640k.
In comparison with other companies in the industry with market capitalizations over UK£5.9b , the reported median total CEO compensation was US$2.7m. From this we gather that Iván Arriagada Herrera is paid around the median for CEOs in the industry.
| Component | 2019 | 2018 | Proportion (2019) |
| Salary | US$640k | US$668k | 23% |
| Other | US$2.1m | US$1.8m | 77% |
| Total Compensation | US$2.7m | US$2.5m | 100% |
Talking in terms of the industry, salary represented approximately 69% of total compensation out of all the companies we analyzed, while other remuneration made up 31% of the pie. In Antofagasta'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 Antofagasta plc's Growth Numbers
Over the past three years, Antofagasta plc has seen its earnings per share (EPS) grow by 1.3% per year. Its revenue is down 11% over the previous year.
We would argue that the lack of revenue growth in the last year is less than ideal, but it is good to see a modest EPS growth at least. It's hard to reach a conclusion about business performance right now. This may be one to watch. Looking ahead, you might want to check this free visual report on analyst forecasts for the company's future earnings..
Has Antofagasta plc Been A Good Investment?
We think that the total shareholder return of 62%, over three years, would leave most Antofagasta plc shareholders smiling. So they may not be at all concerned if the CEO were to be paid more than is normal for companies around the same size.
To Conclude...
As we noted earlier, Antofagasta pays its CEO in line with similar-sized companies belonging to the same industry. But the business isn't reporting great numbers in terms of EPS growth. At the same time, shareholder returns have remained strong over the same period. We would like to see EPS growth from the business, although we wouldn't say the CEO compensation is high.