Ashland CEO took pay cut for ’08

http://www.bizjournals.com/columbus/stories/2008/12/01/daily6.html

Ashland CEO Jim O’Brien’s pay fell by a
fourth to $4.8 million for the year ended Sept. 30, his cash and
long-term incentive compensation declining together, the company
reported to regulators.

Long-term incentive pay for the chief of the Covington, Ky.-based
chemical maker dropped with a fall in value of Ashland’s shares and
stock appreciation rights, according to documents filed with the
Securities and Exchange Commission. Those values dropped as of a
November 2007 award date from a year earlier and have fallen further
following Ashland’s acquisition of chemical maker Hercules Inc. and a recent announcement the company was slashing its quarterly dividend.

Ashland employs 11,700 workers, including more than 1,500 at its Ashland Performance Materials arm in Dublin.

While O’Brien’s base salary rose 5 percent to $1.1 million in fiscal
2008, his annual incentive pay was halved to $445,355. Annual incentive
compensation is based on the company’s operating income and working
capital efficiency.

The value of O’Brien’s grants under long-term incentive plans
dropped to $3.2 million from $4.4 million. They are payable in
performance-based common shares and stock appreciation rights that vest
over years.

The number of shares and rights granted in each of the past two
years were roughly comparable, but the values reported last week in
Ashland’s preliminary proxy statement were based on the market value of
the shares when they were granted.

The November 2007 grants, which counted toward fiscal 2008
compensation, were based on Ashland’s share value of $53.33. Little
more than a year later, shares in Ashland (NYSE:ASH) have plummeted to
under $10. The common stock closed at $8.03 Monday, down $1.52 on
economic reports that again weighed on investor sentiment.