Michael Mueller became the CEO of Valora Holding AG (VTX:VALN) in 2014. This report will, first, examine the CEO compensation levels in comparison to CEO compensation at companies of similar size. After that, we will consider the growth in the business. 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.

See our latest analysis for Valora Holding

How Does Michael Mueller’s Compensation Compare With Similar Sized Companies?

Our data indicates that Valora Holding AG is worth CHF874m, and total annual CEO compensation is CHF2.8m. (This figure is for the year to 2017). While we always look at total compensation first, we note that the salary component is less, at CHF1.2m. We looked at a group of companies with market capitalizations from CHF397m to CHF1.6b, and the median CEO compensation was CHF1.1m.

As you can see, Michael Mueller is paid more than the median CEO pay at companies of a similar size, in the same market. However, this does not necessarily mean Valora Holding AG is paying too much. 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 Valora Holding, below.

Is Valora Holding AG Growing?

Over the last three years Valora Holding AG has grown its earnings per share (EPS) by an average of 25% per year. Its revenue is up 6.0% over last year.

This demonstrates that the company has been improving recently. A good result. It’s nice to see a little revenue growth, as this is consistent with healthy business conditions.

You might want to check this free visual report on analyst forecasts for future earnings.

Has Valora Holding AG Been A Good Investment?

Valora Holding AG has served shareholders reasonably well, with a total return of 31% over three years. 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.

In Summary…

We compared the total CEO remuneration paid by Valora Holding AG, and compared it to remuneration at a group of similar sized companies. Our data suggests that it pays above the median CEO pay within that group.

However, the earnings per share growth over three years is certainly impressive. We also note that, over the same time frame, shareholder returns haven’t been bad. So, considering the EPS growth we do not wish to criticize the level of CEO compensation, though we’d recommend further research on management. Shareholders may want to check for free if Valora Holding insiders are buying or selling shares.

Or you might prefer this data-rich interactive visualization of historic revenue and earnings.

To help readers see past the short term volatility of the financial market, we aim to bring you a long-term focused research analysis purely driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis does not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements.

The author is an independent contributor and at the time of publication had no position in the stocks mentioned. For errors that warrant correction please contact the editor at editorial-team@simplywallst.com.