by Arnold J. Karr
From WWD Issue 04/22/2011
Michael Jeffries, chairman and chief executive officer of Abercrombie & Fitch Co., saw his cash compensation and total pay package go in opposite directions last year.
His cash compensation more than doubled, to $3.8 million from $1.5 million, as his salary remained unchanged at $1.5 million and his cash bonus — nonequity incentive plan compensation — hit $2.3 million based on the teen chain’s strong operating performance last year. He received no bonus for 2009.
Jeffries’ total compensation declined 36 percent to $23.2 million from $36.3 million in 2009 as his option awards fell 57.7 percent to $14.1 million last year versus $33.3 million in the prior year. However, the 2009 package included a retention grant of stock appreciation rights for four million shares which don’t fully vest until the completion of his contract at the end of the 2013 fiscal year. Jeffries received no stock awards in either year.
Because of vesting schedules and fluctuating stock prices, stock and option awards aren’t necessarily realized by the executive officers of public companies, but the Securities and Exchange Commission requires they be reported at “fair market value” for the years in which they’re earned.
Jeffries’ other compensation rose to $4.6 million last year, triple the 2009 level, but $4 million of that amount was in a onetime lump sum payment in exchange for which he agreed to limit his personal use of the company aircraft to $200,000 a year or else reimburse A&F for any additional amounts.
In a strong turnaround last year following a difficult 2009, A&F’s net income hit $150.3 million, versus $300,000 the prior year, as sales grew 18.4 percent to $3.47 billion and same-store sales rose 7 percent. Shares closed Thursday at $69.61, down 6 cents or 0.1 percent.
