SANFORD, N.C. -- The Pantry Inc. retained Hewitt Associates to ensure that its executives' pay is competitive, using other large companies for competitive benchmarking, according to a new Securities & Exchange (SEC) filing.
Other convenience-related companies included 7-Eleven, Alimentation Couche-Tard, Dollar General, Longs Drug Stores and Spartan Stores, the filing showed. Additional companies included Yum Brands, BJ's Wholesale, Blockbuster, Darden Restaurants, AutoZone, Ross Stores, Big Lots, PETsMART, Retail Ventures, Linens 'n Things, Sports Authority, Tractor Supply and Petco.[image-nocss]
President and CEO Peter Sodini received a base salary of $760,000 for the 2007 fiscal year, which ended in September, according to the document. That was a raise of 4.4%. Other executives at the chain of more than 1,600 southeastern convenience stores received raises of about 6%.
"In the 4% range was about where most people ended up," Sodini told The News & Observer. "There were a couple that were adjusted because they were atypically low.... We want to make sure we're competitive with the industry for similar-sized companies."
In its proxy filing with the SEC, The Pantry also detailed the potential payouts for top executives should the company be sold or an unforeseen event happen, the report said. If The Pantry were sold, Sodini would get nearly $1.9 million, it added. In a case of death or disability, the company would pay out a little more than $1 million.
That is not unusual for a large company, Stephen Wallenstein, director of the Duke University Directors Education Institute, which teaches a workshop on executive compensation, told the newspaper. "Which one would require effort and work on his part? If there's a takeover and the shareholders get $35 a share instead of $22 a share and $40 million of value is created or $60 million of value is created, then that seems pretty reasonable to me," he said.
Click hereto view the SEC filing (search for "compensation").
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