Pactiv CEO makes $6.1 mil in '08
NEW YORK -- Richard L. Wambold, chief executive of Pactiv Corp., received compensation last year valued by the packaging company at $6.1 million, up 24 percent from the previous year, according to an Associated Press calculation of figures disclosed in a regulatory filing. But most of it came in stock awards that have since declined in value.
The Lake Forest-company boosted the stock award portion of Wambold's compensation last year by 48 percent to $3.8 million, according to the filing Thursday with the Securities and Exchange Commission. But those shares are now worth 46 percent less than when they were awarded on Feb. 1, 2008.
Excluding the stock award, Wambold's 2008 compensation actually declined 3.4 percent last year.
The CEO, who has led Pactiv since 1999, received a salary last year of $1.1 million, slightly more than the previous year. The company, which makes Hefty trash bags, gave him a performance-based cash bonus of nearly $1.1 million, slightly less than the $1.2 million he received in 2007.
Wambold, 57, got other compensation in 2008 valued at $133,650, which includes $68,158 in 401k matching funds and $40,000 as a "cash perquisite allowance." In 2007, Wambold got other compensation valued at $127,552.
The Associated Press formula is designed to isolate the value the company's board placed on the executive's total compensation package during the last fiscal year. It includes salary, bonus, performance-related bonuses, perks, above-market returns on deferred compensation and the estimated value of stock options and awards granted during the year.
The calculations don't include changes in the present value of pension benefits, and they sometimes differ from the totals companies list in the summary compensation table of proxy statements filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, which reflect the size of the accounting charge taken for the executive's compensation in the previous fiscal year.
Last year the company reported income from continuing operations declined about 10 percent to $221 million, or $1.67 per share, compared with $244 million, or $1.84 per share, in 2007. Excluding a restructuring charge of 8 cents per share, 2008 earnings per share were $1.75. Sales in 2008 rose 10 percent to $3.57 billion from $3.25 billion.
Last year, the company's stock slipped nearly 7 percent. That compares with a 16 percent decline in the S&P Containers and Packaging index and a 39 percent decline in the broader S&P 500 index.