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Is Asanko Gold Inc.’s (TSE:AKG) CEO Overpaid Relative To Its Peers?

In 2012 Peter Breese was appointed CEO of Asanko Gold Inc. (TSE:AKG). This analysis aims first to contrast CEO compensation with other companies that have similar market capitalization. Then we’ll look at a snap shot of the business growth. And finally – as a second measure of performance – we will look at the returns shareholders have received over the last few years. The aim of all this is to consider the appropriateness of CEO pay levels.

View our latest analysis for Asanko Gold

How Does Peter Breese’s Compensation Compare With Similar Sized Companies?

At the time of writing our data says that Asanko Gold Inc. has a market cap of CA$192m, and is paying total annual CEO compensation of US$1.5m. (This number is for the twelve months until 2016). While we always look at total compensation first, we note that the salary component is less, at US$650k. We looked at a group of companies with market capitalizations under US$200m, and the median CEO compensation was US$118k.

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It would therefore appear that Asanko Gold Inc. pays Peter Breese 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 get a better idea of how generous the pay is by looking at the performance of the underlying business.

You can see, below, how CEO compensation at Asanko Gold has changed over time.

TSX:AKG CEO Compensation December 25th 18
TSX:AKG CEO Compensation December 25th 18

Is Asanko Gold Inc. Growing?

Over the last three years Asanko Gold Inc. has shrunk its earnings per share by an average of 97% per year. It saw its revenue drop -19% over the last year.

Sadly for shareholders, earnings per share are actually down, over three years. And the impression is worse when you consider revenue is down year-on-year. 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 Asanko Gold Inc. Been A Good Investment?

Since shareholders would have lost about 61% over three years, some Asanko Gold Inc. shareholders would surely be feeling negative emotions. So shareholders would probably think the company shouldn’t be too generous with CEO compensation.

In Summary…

We compared the total CEO remuneration paid by Asanko Gold Inc., 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.

Earnings per share have not grown in three years, and the revenue growth fails to impress us.

Over the same period, investors would have come away with nothing in the way of share price gains. In our opinion the CEO might be paid too generously! Whatever your view on compensation, you might want to check if insiders are buying or selling Asanko Gold shares (free trial).

Or you might prefer gaze upon this detailed graph of past earnings, revenue and cash flow .

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.