Supervalu CEO wages declined

Supervalu Chairman and CEO Jeffrey Noddle's pay fell to about $5.3 million without the stock awards that had boosted his total compensation the previous year, according to a company filing May 16.

Noddle received a major infusion of stock options that pushed his pay to $20.4 million in the prior fiscal year, including about $13.6 million in options and restricted shares tied to closing the purchase of most of Albertsons stores in 2006. His stock-related awards fell to about $2.8 million during the most recent fiscal year, which ended in February.

Noddle's base salary was $1.1 million, and he received another $1.3 million in incentive pay.

Noddle has run Supervalu since 2001, and he made it the nation's third-largest grocer with the purchase of 1,100 Albertsons stores in 2006.

For the year that ended Feb. 23, Supervalu earned $593 million, up 31 percent from $452 million during the prior year. Revenue rose 17.7 percent to $44.05 billion.

The share price fell almost 26 percent during the fiscal year, though, closing at $27.94 on Feb. 22. It had recovered to $35.31 by May 16.

The Associated Press calculations of total pay include executives' salary, bonus, incentives, perks, above-market returns on deferred compensation - which Noddle did not 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, and they sometimes differ from the totals companies list in the summary compensation table of proxy statements filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.