The Associated Press March 31, 2009
Northeast Utilities CEO Had $6.2M in compensation
BERLIN, Conn.
Charles Shivery, the top executive of Northeast Utilities, received compensation of $6.2 million in 2008, a decline of 7 percent from 2007, according to an Associated Press calculation of data from a regulatory filing.
The salary for Shivery, Northeast Utilities chairman, president and CEO, rose nearly 8 percent to $1 million in 2008 and his performance-based bonus of $3.3 million was about 7 percent more than the $3 million he received in 2007, according to the filing Monday with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Most of the decline from 2007 came from the value of stock grants at the time they were awarded. Shivery received stock worth $1.9 million in 2008 compared with $2.6 million in 2007.
The Associated Press compensation 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 SEC, which reflect the size of the accounting charge taken for the executive's compensation in the previous fiscal year.
For 2008, Northeast Utilities earned $260.8 million, or $1.67 per share, compared with $246.5 million, or $1.59 per share, in 2007. Results for 2008 include a first-quarter charge of 19 cents per share related to a litigation settlement. Excluding that charge, Northeast earned $1.86 per share in 2008.
Revenue was about flat at $5.8 billion.
Last month, the company completed a stock offering totaling nearly 19 million shares that was expected to raise $370 million.
The shares were offered to index funds and other investors after Standard & Poor's said Northeast Utilities would be added to the S&P 500 index. Index funds that mimic the S&P 500 may be required to purchase shares of the company.
Northeast Utilities serves more than 2 million customers in Connecticut, New Hampshire and Massachusetts.