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Nino Ficca became the CEO of AusNet Services Ltd (ASX:AST) in 2005. First, this article will compare CEO compensation with compensation at similar sized companies. After that, we will consider the growth in the business. And finally we will reflect on how common stockholders have fared in the last few years, as a secondary measure of performance. This method should give us information to assess how appropriately the company pays the CEO.
Check out our latest analysis for AusNet Services
How Does Nino Ficca's Compensation Compare With Similar Sized Companies?
According to our data, AusNet Services Ltd has a market capitalization of AU$6.8b, and pays its CEO total annual compensation worth AU$2.9m. (This is based on the year to March 2019). That's actually a decrease on the year before. We think total compensation is more important but we note that the CEO salary is lower, at AU$1.0m. As part of our analysis we looked at companies in the same jurisdiction, with market capitalizations of AU$2.8b to AU$9.1b. The median total CEO compensation was AU$3.4m.
So Nino Ficca receives a similar amount to the median CEO pay, amongst the companies we looked at. While this data point isn't particularly informative alone, it gains more meaning when considered with business performance.
You can see a visual representation of the CEO compensation at AusNet Services, below.
Is AusNet Services Ltd Growing?
On average over the last three years, AusNet Services Ltd has shrunk earnings per share by 16% each year (measured with a line of best fit). In the last year, its revenue is down -2.5%.
Few shareholders would be pleased to read that earnings per share are lower over three years. And the fact that revenue is down year on year arguably paints an ugly picture. These factors suggest that the business performance wouldn't really justify a high pay packet for the CEO. You might want to check this free visual report on analyst forecasts for future earnings.
Has AusNet Services Ltd Been A Good Investment?
AusNet Services Ltd has served shareholders reasonably well, with a total return of 25% over three years. But they would probably prefer not to see CEO compensation far in excess of the median.
In Summary...
Nino Ficca is paid around the same as most CEOs of similar size companies.
We feel that earnings per share have been a bit disappointing, but and we don't think the total returns are amazing. We're not saying the CEO pay is too generous, but one might argue that the company should improve returns to shareholders before increasing it. Shareholders may want to check for free if AusNet Services insiders are buying or selling shares.