What ASX 200 chief executive bonuses pay for
Each year a listed company publishes the measures behind its chief executive's bonus. This page tracks those measures for the same 50+ ASX 200 companies, in five years from FY2015 to FY2025.
Following the same companies keeps changes in the index out of the trend.
- Environment or climate measures were in the short-term plan of 7% of these companies in FY2015, and 43% in FY2025.
- Revenue or growth measures were in the short-term plan of 32% of these companies in FY2015, and 47% in FY2025.
- Cost measures were in the short-term plan of 20% of these companies in FY2015, and 34% in FY2025.
- The short-term plan is the annual bonus, paid in cash or partly deferred into shares.
- The long-term plan grants shares or rights that vest after three years or more if targets are met.
- Total shareholder return is share price growth plus dividends, usually measured against a group of peers.
A measure counts if the plan names it, whatever its weight. Most plans carry several measures, so the shares add to more than 100%.
Each report words its measures its own way. We group them into the categories shown.
These are large listed companies with outside shareholders. A private business pays bonuses for different owners, so read the direction of the trend more than the levels.
Source: the companies' own remuneration reports, FY2015 to FY2025. Measures grouped by onestepright. The role is recorded, not the person.
All figures are % of companies.
| Measure | FY2015 | FY2018 | FY2021 | FY2024 | FY2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total shareholder return | 79 | 78 | 81 | 85 | 86 |
| Earnings per share | 42 | 31 | 28 | 36 | 33 |
| Strategic or project goals | 8 | 12 | 13 | 19 | 21 |
| Cash flow or return on capital | 9 | 20 | 19 | 16 | 18 |
| Profit or earnings | 17 | 17 | 15 | 26 | 13 |
| Revenue or growth | 3 | 8 | 14 | 6 | 11 |
| Environment or climate | 0 | 0 | 4 | 11 | 9 |
| Customer | 1 | 3 | 2 | 6 | 7 |
| Risk and conduct | 0 | 2 | 0 | 7 | 6 |
| Cost | 2 | 4 | 6 | 5 | 5 |
| Individual goals | 4 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 4 |
| Safety | 1 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 1 |
| People and culture | 1 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 0 |
Source: the companies' own remuneration reports, FY2015 to FY2025. Measures grouped by onestepright. The role is recorded, not the person.
Source: the companies' own remuneration reports, FY2015 to FY2025. Measures grouped by onestepright. The role is recorded, not the person.
| Year | Profit or earnings (%) |
|---|---|
| FY2015 | 17 |
| FY2018 | 17 |
| FY2021 | 15 |
| FY2024 | 26 |
| FY2025 | 13 |
Source: the companies' own remuneration reports, FY2015 to FY2025. Measures grouped by onestepright. The role is recorded, not the person.
Measures by sector in the long-term plan, FY2025
The share of each sector's companies using the measure. Sectors with too few companies are grouped under Other.
All figures are % of the sector's companies.
| Sector | Companies | Total shareholder return | Earnings per share | Strategic or project goals | Cash flow or return on capital | Profit or earnings | Revenue or growth | Environment or climate | Customer | Risk and conduct | Cost | Individual goals | Safety | People and culture |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Electricity, gas, water and waste | 5+ | 100 | 14 | 29 | 43 | 0 | 43 | 43 | 0 | 0 | 14 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Financial and insurance services | 20+ | 96 | 37 | 15 | 11 | 11 | 7 | 4 | 22 | 11 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| Manufacturing | 20+ | 70 | 52 | 22 | 30 | 9 | 17 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 0 | 4 |
| Mining | 30+ | 89 | 11 | 33 | 9 | 6 | 22 | 22 | 0 | 2 | 11 | 2 | 2 | 13 |
| Rental, hiring and real estate | 10+ | 100 | 14 | 0 | 7 | 36 | 7 | 7 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Retail trade | 10+ | 70 | 30 | 10 | 40 | 20 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Technology, software, media and telecommunications | 10+ | 75 | 44 | 6 | 12 | 6 | 25 | 6 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 19 | 0 | 6 |
| Transport, postal and warehousing | 5+ | 88 | 12 | 12 | 62 | 25 | 0 | 12 | 12 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Wholesale trade | 5+ | 75 | 50 | 25 | 50 | 12 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Source: the companies' own remuneration reports, FY2015 to FY2025. Measures grouped by onestepright. The role is recorded, not the person.
Do your own targets and bonuses pull the same way as your plan? The KPIs and incentives check takes about ten minutes.