Should You Worry About Reading International, Inc.'s (NASDAQ:RDI) CEO Salary Level?

Ellen Cotter has been the CEO of Reading International, Inc. (NASDAQ:RDI) since 2015. This analysis aims first to contrast CEO compensation with other companies that have similar market capitalization. After that, we will consider the growth in the business. 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.

See our latest analysis for Reading International

How Does Ellen Cotter's Compensation Compare With Similar Sized Companies?

Our data indicates that Reading International, Inc. is worth US$309m, and total annual CEO compensation was reported as US$1.3m for the year to December 2018. While this analysis focuses on total compensation, it's worth noting the salary is lower, valued at US$496k. Importantly, there may be performance hurdles relating to the non-salary component of the total compensation. We looked at a group of companies with market capitalizations from US$200m to US$800m, and the median CEO total compensation was US$1.8m.

So Ellen Cotter is paid around the average of the companies we looked at. Although this fact alone doesn't tell us a great deal, it becomes more relevant when considered against the business performance.

You can see a visual representation of the CEO compensation at Reading International, below.

Is Reading International, Inc. Growing?

Earnings per share at Reading International, Inc. are much the same as they were three years ago, albeit slightly lower, based on the trend. It saw its revenue drop 3.8% over the last year.

In the last three years the company has failed to grow earnings per share. This is compounded by the fact revenue is actually down on last year. So given this relatively weak performance, shareholders would probably not want to see high compensation for the CEO. It could be important to check this free visual depiction of what analysts expect for the future.

Has Reading International, Inc. Been A Good Investment?

Since shareholders would have lost about 4.4% over three years, some Reading International, Inc. shareholders would surely be feeling negative emotions. It therefore might be upsetting for shareholders if the CEO were paid generously.

In Summary...

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

The company isn't growing EPS, and shareholder returns have been disappointing. Suffice it to say, we don't think the CEO is underpaid! CEO compensation is one thing, but it is also interesting to check if the CEO is buying or selling Reading International (free visualization of insider trades).

Arguably, business quality is much more important than CEO compensation levels. So check out this free list of interesting companies, that have HIGH return on equity and low debt.

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.

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. Thank you for reading.