Doral's value has soared 6-fold - and the company is asking to increase the CEO's salary for the second time this year

The market value of Doral has soared sixfold since Yoni Hantzis took office as CEO, and now the renewable energy company is asking to upgrade his employment terms again – for the second time in seven months. The company will bring to the approval of the shareholders' meeting a proposal according to which the maximum annual cost of Hantzis's salary will increase from 4.2 million shekels, as approved last January, to 7.4 million shekels – a jump of 78%.

At the same time, Doral is asking to increase the maximum compensation cost of the chairman, and one of the two controlling shareholders, Dori Davidovich, from 3.3 million shekels to 6 million shekels per year. Hantzis took office on May 30, 2025. In the year preceding his appointment, Doral's stock rose by 31%, compared to a 37% rise in the TA-125 index. Since he took office, the stock has soared by 396%, while the TA-125 index has risen by only 53%. Accordingly, the company's value has jumped from 2.6 billion shekels to almost 16 billion shekels.

According to the new proposal, Hantzis's monthly salary will be 143 thousand shekels gross – a 30% increase compared to the salary approved in January – and an annual cost of about 2.3 million shekels. In addition, he will be entitled to an annual bonus that will reach up to 12 monthly salaries in the first year, about 1.7 million shekels, and will gradually increase to 18 salaries, about 2.6 million shekels, starting from the third year. For comparison, the agreement approved in January included a maximum bonus of nine salaries, amounting to 990 thousand shekels.

In addition, Doral is asking to grant Hantzis 138 thousand options and 21.5 thousand restricted stock units (RSU), worth 6.2 million shekels and with an annual cost of a little more than 1.2 million shekels. The exercise price of the options was set at 78.6 shekels per share – about 11% higher than the current share price and about 15% higher than the share price at the time the board of directors approved the allocation. This means that the options are out of the money, and the CEO will only benefit from them if Doral's stock continues to rise.

The new equity compensation package joins the one approved in January, which included 344 thousand options and 103 thousand restricted units worth 7.6 million shekels. Those options carry an exercise price of 28.44 shekels per share, and after the sharp rise in the stock, they are deep in the money. If the share price remains at its current level, Hantzis is expected to enjoy a significant profit when they begin vesting in December.

Doral explained that the update to the compensation terms reflects the contribution of Hantzis and Davidovich to its performance, and noted that they took into account "the significant increase in the company's market value, the development of its activity, the improvement in its business performance, the complexity of its business, the success of the implementation of the business strategy and investor confidence." Indeed, the company's performance has improved during this period. Doral's mature backlog grew from 4.6 GW and 3.8 GWh of storage when Hantzis took office, to 8 GW and 5.6 GWh of storage at the end of March. The company's revenues in the first quarter also grew by 52% compared to the corresponding quarter.

However, the company's reasoning does not mention the tailwind enjoyed by the entire renewable energy sector. Since Hantzis took office, the TA-Cleantech index has risen by 124% – more than twice the TA-125 index. The shares of competitors Enlight and Nofar Energy also yielded returns of 302% and 130%, respectively, during this period. Another question mark arises regarding the fact that Doral wrote that the allocation of options and restricted stock units "strengthens the identity of interests" between the managers and the company by creating a direct link between the rise in its value and their compensation. This reasoning is suitable for the allocation of options, whose value depends on the share price, but less so for restricted shares, which are granted without an exercise price and without dependence on the rise of the stock.