ConAgra CEO gets 41 percent pay cut with compensation package worth more than $7.9 million -

http://money.cnn.com/news/newsfeeds/articles/apwire/f933f3c8f7a7dd73f2d4ecb05c0927d0.htm

CEO Gary Rodkin received a $1 million
salary, $1.8 million in incentive compensation and $4.9 million in
stock and options. His $297,526 in perks and extra benefits included
$98,215 for personal flights on company aircraft, according to the
company's proxy, filed Friday with the Securities and Exchange
Commission.

Before joining ConAgra in 2005, Rodkin, 56, was chairman and CEO of PepsiCo Beverages and Foods North America from 2003 to 2005.

ConAgra's
board decided to cut Rodkin's pay because of uneven performance in the
company's consumer products and merchandising units, said spokeswoman
Teresa Paulsen.

"It's a reflection of our pay for performance
philosophy," Paulsen said. She said the company did what it set out to
do overall last fiscal year, but the way it got those results was a bit
mixed.

Rising commodity costs ate into ConAgra's packaged-food
profits, while the company suffered a major recall of Banquet pot pies
during October, Paulsen said. The company was still recovering from a
recall of Peter Pan peanut butter during fiscal year 2007.

The
Associated Press calculations of total pay include executives' salary,
bonus, incentives, perks, above-market returns on deferred compensation
and the estimated value of stock options and awards granted during the
year. The total may vary from totals that companies report.

ConAgra
earned $931 million, or $1.90 per share, during its 2008 fiscal year,
which ended in May, which was up 22 percent from 2007.

The
company's 2008 profits were padded by contributions from its commodity
trading unit, as prices for grains like wheat, corn and soybeans hit
record highs. ConAgra sold the trading unit in June for $2.2 billion in
cash and $550 million in debt securities.

Selling the trading
unit is part of ConAgra's long-term strategy to focus on the company's
core packaged food products, Paulsen said. ConAgra sells food brands
such as Healthy Choice, Chef Boyardee and Egg Beaters.

During the
past decade, ConAgra has changed from a decentralized conglomerate
based in agricultural commodities into a retailer of packaged food with
centralized research, sales and administration.