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Early Filers: Bonuses Up Amid Flat Financial Performance
Key Findings Performance: 2024 median financial performance – as measured by revenue, earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT), and earnings per share (EPS) – was generally flat and consistent with 2023 performance. In 2024, median revenue grew slightly (+1.6%), EBIT grew modestly (+3.9%) and EPS was flat (0.0%). One-year total shareholder return (TSR) was up […]
Lauren Peek is a Partner and Joanna Czyzewski is a Principal at Compensation Advisory Partners. This post is based on their CAP memorandum.
Key Findings
Performance: 2024 median financial performance – as measured by revenue, earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT), and earnings per share (EPS) – was generally flat and consistent with 2023 performance. In 2024, median revenue grew slightly (+1.6%), EBIT grew modestly (+3.9%) and EPS was flat (0.0%). One-year total shareholder return (TSR) was up double digits year-over-year (+15.2%).
CEO Pay: Median CEO total direct compensation increased +9% year over year, driven by a +14% increase in actual bonus payout and a +7% increase in the grant-date value of long-term incentives (LTI).
Annual Incentive Payout: For the second year in a row, median bonus payouts for CEOs were around target (i.e., 104% of target). Although financial performance was generally flat and annual incentive achievement was around target, CEO bonus payouts were up significantly. This is because, in general, companies with significant increases in bonus payouts (on average, approximately +280% increase) either rebounded from low payouts in 2023 or had continued sustained performance in 2024 and these increases were larger than the percentage change for companies that saw a decline in bonus (approximately 45%, on average).
