Pay Ratios
Overall pay ratios
The total expense for the non-equity remuneration paid to the CEO (being the only statutory Executive Director on the Board of Directors) for the year ended December 31, 2024, totalled $1,598,471. The table below shows the evolution over the past five years of CEO compensation, the performance of the Company’s stock price and the median remuneration on a full-time equivalent basis (annualized for the employees who joined or left us during the year) of employees, other than the CEO:
|
|
|
|
2020 |
|
2021 |
|
2022 |
|
2023 |
|
2024 |
||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Base pay of the CEO (EUR) |
|
€ |
|
525,000 |
|
551,250 |
|
606,368 |
|
606,368 |
|
700,000 |
||||||
Base pay of the CEO (USD) |
|
$ |
|
553,167 |
|
580,825 |
|
638,901 |
|
655,787 |
|
757,680 |
||||||
Non-equity remuneration of the CEO (USD) (base pay, short-term cash incentive, pension contributions and other compensation elements) |
|
$ |
|
1,144,301 |
|
1,285,136 |
|
1,443,925 |
|
1,285,056 |
|
1,598,471 |
||||||
Total remuneration of the CEO (USD) |
|
$ |
|
8,160,745 |
|
7,263,828 |
|
7,778,298 |
|
11,944,8351) |
|
7,807,786 |
||||||
Non-equity median salary paid to employees (USD) |
|
$ |
|
163,062 |
|
157,349 |
|
153,193 |
|
159,500 |
|
180,543 |
||||||
Non-equity remuneration ratio employee/CEO |
|
|
|
14% |
|
12% |
|
11% |
|
12%2) |
|
11% |
||||||
Average remuneration paid to Non-Executive Director (USD) |
|
$ |
|
57,925 |
|
54,484 |
|
48,587 |
|
59,230 |
|
81,204 |
||||||
Number of employees on December 31 |
|
|
|
336 |
|
650 |
|
843 |
|
1,148 |
|
1,599 |
||||||
Share price at end of year Euronext (EUR) on December 31 |
|
€ |
|
242.00 |
|
315.30 |
|
348.30 |
|
343.50 |
|
600.00 |
||||||
Share price at end of year Euronext (USD) on December 31 |
|
$ |
|
296.96 |
|
357.11 |
|
371.50 |
|
379.57 |
|
623.34 |
||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||
The comparison of non-equity compensation above is made between the compensation paid to the CEO, the Company’s sole statutory Executive Director on the Board of Directors, and the median compensation paid to employees. The Company has opted to compare non-equity salaries, because whereas the number of stock options granted is linked to the overall size of remuneration packages granted, the value of equity components depends on the evolution of the Company’s share price, volatility and the risk-free rate, which is unknown at the time of grant and as such the forward-looking valuation methods for stock options normally do not provide an accurate representation of actual economic value granted. In the assumptions used, the fair valuation differs between a Belgian beneficiary versus a non-Belgian beneficiary. For a description of the assumptions used in valuing these awards, please refer to “Note 13 Share-Based Payments” in Section 6 “Consolidated Financial Statements”.
Regional pay ratios
Due to the global spread of employees over multiple continents, it is deemed relevant to also include the above comparison separately to U.S. employees, EU employees and Japanese employees. Due to the overall higher compensation level in the business segment in the U.S. compared to the EU, there is a significant difference in the pay ratio when the CEO’s compensation is compared to the median compensation of all employees, compared to employees in the U.S. The following information is provided for reference purposes:
Ratio of non-equity compensation of the median employee compared to the CEO for the year ended December 31, 2024 |
||
|---|---|---|
All employees |
|
11% |
European employees |
|
7% |
North-America Employees |
|
16% |
Japan employees |
|
5% |
Total employment costs (excluding any costs related stock options and RSUs) paid in the year ended December 31, 2024 was split between regions as follows:
Total employment costs in the year ended December 31, 2024 |
||
Europe |
|
186.7 |
|---|---|---|
North-America |
|
204.9 |
Japan |
|
13.9 |
Share-based payment ratios
|
|
2020 |
|
2021 |
|
2022 |
|
2023 |
|
2024 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Stock options granted to the CEO |
|
50,000 |
|
25,000 |
|
25,000 |
|
30,000 |
|
18,279 |
Median stock options granted to employees |
|
2,900 |
|
981 |
|
900 |
|
600 |
|
306 |
Ratio employee/CEO for stock options |
|
6% |
|
4% |
|
4% |
|
2% |
|
2% |
RSUs granted to the CEO |
|
N/A |
|
5,700 |
|
5,700 |
|
6,700 |
|
6,762 |
Median RSUs granted to the employees |
|
N/A |
|
200 |
|
200 |
|
94 |
|
148 |
Ratio employee/CEO for RSUs |
|
N/A |
|
4% |
|
4% |
|
1% |
|
2% |
Median number of stock options granted to Non-Executive Directors |
|
10,000 |
|
2,700 |
|
2,700 |
|
1,600 |
|
N/A |
Median stock options granted to employees |
|
2,900 |
|
981 |
|
900 |
|
600 |
|
306 |
Ratio Non-Executive Directors/employee stock |
|
29% |
|
36% |
|
33% |
|
38% |
|
N/A |
Median number of RSUs granted to Non-Executive Directors |
|
N/A |
|
600 |
|
600 |
|
350 |
|
1,124 |
Ratio non-executive directors/employee |
|
N/A |
|
33% |
|
33% |
|
27% |
|
13% |