CEO Pay vs Company Performance
Compare CEO total compensation against Return on Equity across 83 NZX-listed companies.
CEO Pay vs Return on Equity (%)
Each dot represents one NZX CEO. Hover for details. Color indicates sector. 62 companies shown.
High Compensation, Negative Returns (8)
Note: Negative company returns reflect many factors including market conditions, sector trends, and strategic investments. Executive compensation is set by remuneration committees and may reflect multi-year contracts, retention needs, or non-financial KPIs.
CEOs earning above median pay ($1.0M) while their company delivered negative ROE.
| Company | CEO | Total Pay | ROE | Net Margin |
|---|---|---|---|---|
WHS WHSThe Warehouse Group Limited | Nick Grayston | $4.2M | -0.8% | -0.1% |
MEL MELMeridian Energy Limited | Mike Roan | $2.5M | -5.1% | -9.3% |
FWL FWLFoley Wines Limited | Antony Mark Turnbull | $2.4M | -1.3% | -2.6% |
SML SMLSynlait Milk Limited | Grant Watson | $1.7M | -5.0% | -2.2% |
STU STUSteel & Tube Holdings Limited | Mark Malpass | $1.5M | -13.4% | -6.3% |
MHJ MHJMichael Hill International Limited | Daniel Bracken | $1.4M | -0.3% | -0.1% |
VGL VGLVista Group International Limited | Stuart Dickinson | $1.3M | -0.4% | -0.4% |
PEB PEBPacific Edge Limited | Dr Peter Meintjes | $1.1M | -114.8% | -137.0% |
High Performance, Lower Compensation: Below-Median Pay, 15%+ ROE (5)
CEOs delivering strong returns while earning below median compensation — potential value for shareholders.
| Company | CEO | Total Pay | ROE | Net Margin |
|---|---|---|---|---|
HLG HLGHallenstein Glasson Holdings Limited | Christopher James Kinraid | $945K | 35.3% | 8.4% |
VNT VNTVentia Services Group Limited | Dean Banks | $1.0M | 34.9% | 3.6% |
PHL PHLPromisia Healthcare Limited | Stuart Bilbrough | $130K | 17.4% | 22.0% |
PYS PYSPaySauce Limited | Asantha Wijeyeratne | $451K | 16.3% | 7.6% |
2CC 2CC2 Cheap Cars Group Limited | David (Yusuke) Sena | $392K | 15.7% | 4.1% |
Top 15 Highest-Paid NZX CEOs
| # | Company | CEO | Sector | Total Pay | Base Salary | ROE | Revenue |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | FPH FPH | Lewis Gradon | Healthcare | $5.1M | $1.8M | 19.9% | $2M |
| 2 | WHS WHS | Nick Grayston | Consumer Discretionary | $4.2M | $1.4M | -0.8% | $3M |
| 3 | AIR AIR | CEO | Industrials | $4.2M | $1.9M | 6.5% | N/A |
| 4 | DOW DOW | G A Fenn | Industrials | $3.8M | $2.1M | 6.7% | $11M |
| 5 | MFT MFT | Don Braid | Industrials | $2.9M | $2.9M | 13.8% | $5M |
| 6 | MEL MEL | Mike Roan | Utilities | $2.5M | $1.4M | -5.1% | $5M |
| 7 | FWL FWL | Antony Mark Turnbull | Consumer Staples | $2.4M | $625K | -1.3% | $0M |
| 8 | PCT PCT | Scott Pritchard | Real Estate | $2.3M | $823K | 0.6% | $0M |
| 9 | SPK SPK | Jolie Hodson | Communication Services | $2.2M | $1.3M | 17.1% | $4M |
| 10 | AIA AIA | Carrie Hurihanganui | Industrials | $2.1M | $1.4M | 4.0% | $1M |
| 11 | CNU CNU | Mark Aue | Communication Services | $2.0M | $1.3M | N/A | N/A |
| 12 | WIN WIN | Chris Meehan | Real Estate | $2.0M | $1.9M | 3.0% | $0M |
| 13 | POT POT | Leonard Sampson | Industrials | $1.9M | $1.1M | 7.6% | $0M |
| 14 | GTK GTK | Gary Miles | Information Technology | $1.7M | $898K | 8.6% | $0M |
| 15 | SML SML | Grant Watson | Consumer Staples | $1.7M | $666K | -5.0% | $2M |
Methodology
CEO identification: Executives with role containing "Chief Executive", "CEO", or "Managing Director".
Total compensation: Includes base salary, short-term incentives (STI/bonus), long-term incentives (LTI/equity), and other benefits as disclosed in annual reports.
Return on Equity (ROE): Net profit after tax divided by total equity, from the same or most recent fiscal year.
Data source: AI-extracted from annual reports of 83 NZX-listed companies. Values in NZD.
Data sourced from NZX company filings. Our datasets may not be complete and we are continuously updating and adding more data to the platform. Automated analysis can produce errors — for example, compensation components may be categorised differently across companies, and role changes may not be reflected in the data. If you believe any data on this page is incorrect, please contact us at hello@nzxplorer.co.nz and we will review and correct it promptly. For informational purposes only. Not investment advice.