Pay Falls for Lundgren, Ullman

Lower profits led to reduced pay for the top brass at both Macy's Inc. and J.C. Penney Co. Inc. last year, according to regulatory filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission on Tuesday.

Terry Lundgren, Macy's chairman, chief executive officer and president, saw his total compensation fall 44.6 percent to $8.7 million in fiscal 2007 from $15.6 million in fiscal 2006.

His compensation included a salary of $1.5 million and stock and option awards valued at $5.7 million on top of other compensation, such as $96,000 for aircraft usage.

Fiscal 2007, which ended Feb. 2, was a tough stretch for the retailer as Macy's continued to integrate the operations of May Department Stores Co. Profits fell 10.3 percent to $893 million as sales slid 2.4 percent to $26.31 billion.

The other four executives named in the filing each had their pay for the year decline by more than 25 percent. Karen Hoguet, executive vice president and chief financial officer, saw her total compensation fall 27.7 percent to $2.9 million. Among the executives who hold the vice chair title, Thomas Cole's salary fell 29.9 percent to $3.5 million, while Janet Grove's compensation dropped 34.4 percent to $3.2 million. Susan Kronick's compensation decreased 33.7 percent to $3.8 million.

At Penney's, total compensation for chairman and ceo Myron "Mike" Ullman 3rd fell 23.1 percent to $8 million, which included $1.5 million in salary and stock and option awards valued at $5.3 million.

For fiscal 2007, which also ended Feb. 2, the retailer's profits dipped 3.6 percent to $1.11 billion on a 0.2 percent rise in sales to $19.86 billion. Poor sales over the Easter selling season prompted Penney's last week to cut first-quarter earnings projections to 50 cents a share, down from the 75 cents to 80 cents previously expected.

Other Penney's executives also saw declines in their total pay: Robert Cavanaugh, executive vice president and chief financial officer, was down 45.3 percent to $2 million; Ken Hicks, president and chief merchandising officer, declined 20.4 percent to $2.9 million; Michael Theilmann, chief human resources and administration officer, fell 14.3 percent to $2.3 million, and Joanne Bober, general counsel and secretary, declined 17.4 percent to $1.6 million.