The CEO of Public Financial Holdings Limited (HKG:626) is Yoke Kong Tan. This analysis aims first to contrast CEO compensation with other companies that have similar market capitalization. Next, we'll consider growth that the business demonstrates. Third, we'll reflect on the total return to shareholders over three years, as a second measure of business performance. This process should give us an idea about how appropriately the CEO is paid.

Check out our latest analysis for Public Financial Holdings

How Does Yoke Kong Tan's Compensation Compare With Similar Sized Companies?

At the time of writing our data says that Public Financial Holdings Limited has a market cap of HK$3.3b, and is paying total annual CEO compensation of HK$7.6m. (This figure is for the year to December 2018). We think total compensation is more important but we note that the CEO salary is lower, at HK$2.4m. As part of our analysis we looked at companies in the same jurisdiction, with market capitalizations of HK$1.6b to HK$6.3b. The median total CEO compensation was HK$2.6m.

It would therefore appear that Public Financial Holdings Limited pays Yoke Kong Tan more than the median CEO remuneration at companies of a similar size, in the same market. However, this fact alone doesn't mean the remuneration is too high. We can better assess whether the pay is overly generous by looking into the underlying business performance.

You can see a visual representation of the CEO compensation at Public Financial Holdings, below.

Is Public Financial Holdings Limited Growing?

Over the last three years Public Financial Holdings Limited has grown its earnings per share (EPS) by an average of 9.4% per year (using a line of best fit). In the last year, its revenue is down -4.5%.

I would argue that the lack of revenue growth in the last year is less than ideal, but it is good to see EPS growth. These two metric are moving in different directions, so while it's hard to be confident judging performance, we think the stock is worth watching. Although we don't have analyst forecasts, you might want to assess this data-rich visualization of earnings, revenue and cash flow.

Has Public Financial Holdings Limited Been A Good Investment?

Public Financial Holdings Limited has not done too badly by shareholders, with a total return of 3.8%, over three years. 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 Public Financial Holdings Limited pays its CEO, and compared it to the amount paid by similar sized companies. We found that it pays well over the median amount paid in the benchmark group.

We generally prefer to see stronger EPS growth, and we're not particularly impressed with the total shareholder return, over the last three years. In conclusion we think the company should definitely focus on improving the business before awarding any large pay rises. So you may want to check if insiders are buying Public Financial Holdings shares with their own money (free access).

If you want to buy a stock that is better than Public Financial Holdings, this free list of high return, low debt companies is a great place to look.

We aim to bring you long-term focused research analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material.

If you spot an error that warrants correction, please contact the editor at editorial-team@simplywallst.com. This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. Simply Wall St has no position in the stocks mentioned. Thank you for reading.