Pay for ADM chief falls slightly

[September 24, 2011]  (AP) -- Archer Daniels Midland Co. said Friday that it paid its CEO $10.9 million for its most recent fiscal year, a 1 percent cut, even though she met or exceeded most of her targets.

The seller of products from fertilizer and animal feed to supply chain management and financial services, ADM said in a filling with the Securities and Exchange Commission that it set higher goals for chairman and CEO Patrica Woertz and other executives this year than last.

Woertz's salay was unchanged at $1.3 million, but a slight dip in other parts of her pay caused her overall compensation to fall 1 percent.

The value of her stock awards rose 5 percent to $4 million. Option awards rose 7 percent to $3.1 million.

Her incentive pay fell 16 percent to $2.5 million. The board rated her and other top ADM executives as above-target but said the payout fell because it set more ambitious goals this year.

Woertz, 58, collected $60,861 in other compensation, down 10 percent from the previous year. That included $38,603 for personal use of the company plane, as well as the value of personal use of the company car and a company-paid home phone and security system.

For the year that ended June 30, ADM earned $2.03 billion, or $3.13 per share, up from $1.93 billion, or $3 per share in fiscal 2010.

Shares of the Decatur, Ill.-based company rose 16.8 percent during the fiscal year, finishing June 30 at $30.15. They've given up ground since then and fell 22 cents Friday to close at $25.19.

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 (which Woertz didn't receive) 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, making the AP total different in most cases than the total reported by companies to the Securities and Exchange Commission.

[Associated Press; By JOSHUA FREED]

Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.