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Is J. Smart & Co. (Contractors) PLC's (LON:SMJ) CEO Pay Fair?

In 2017 David Smart was appointed CEO of J. Smart & Co. (Contractors) PLC (LON:SMJ). 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. And finally - as a second measure of performance - we will look at the returns shareholders have received over the last few years. This process should give us an idea about how appropriately the CEO is paid.

View our latest analysis for J. Smart (Contractors)

How Does David Smart's Compensation Compare With Similar Sized Companies?

At the time of writing, our data says that J. Smart & Co. (Contractors) PLC has a market cap of UK£54m, and reported total annual CEO compensation of UK£177k for the year to July 2019. We think total compensation is more important but we note that the CEO salary is lower, at UK£113k. We took a group of companies with market capitalizations below UK£155m, and calculated the median CEO total compensation to be UK£250k.

So David Smart is paid around the average of 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, below, how CEO compensation at J. Smart (Contractors) has changed over time.

LSE:SMJ CEO Compensation, February 25th 2020
LSE:SMJ CEO Compensation, February 25th 2020

Is J. Smart & Co. (Contractors) PLC Growing?

Over the last three years J. Smart & Co. (Contractors) PLC has grown its earnings per share (EPS) by an average of 22% per year (using a line of best fit). Its revenue is up 87% over last year.

This demonstrates that the company has been improving recently. A good result. It's great to see that revenue growth is strong, too. These metrics suggest the business is growing strongly. We don't have analyst forecasts, but you might want to assess this data-rich visualization of earnings, revenue and cash flow.

Has J. Smart & Co. (Contractors) PLC Been A Good Investment?

J. Smart & Co. (Contractors) PLC has generated a total shareholder return of 24% over three years, so most shareholders would be reasonably content. 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...

Remuneration for David Smart is close enough to the median pay for a CEO of a similar sized company .

The company is growing EPS but shareholder returns have been sound but not amazing. So upon reflection one could argue that the CEO pay is quite reasonable. If you think CEO compensation levels are interesting you will probably really like this free visualization of insider trading at J. Smart (Contractors).

If you want to buy a stock that is better than J. Smart (Contractors), this free list of high return, low debt companies is a great place to look.

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.

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. Thank you for reading.