(The Associated Press circulated the following by David Koenig on March 17.)
DALLAS — The chief executive of Burlington Northern Santa Fe Corp. got compensation valued at $12.6 million in 2007, 3 percent more than the year before, as the railroad operator’s profits slipped but its stock rose nearly 13 percent.
Apart from his 2007 compensation, Matthew K. Rose also exercised options or had shares vest last year that the company valued at $34.7 million, according to a proxy statement filed Monday with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Burlington Northern is the nation’s second-largest railroad company by total revenue of $15.8 billion last year, slightly trailing Union Pacific Corp. It has about 40,000 employees.
CEO Jim Young at Union Pacific made less, though UP earned slightly more profit. Young, who took home more than Rose in 2006, received $9.8 million last year, a 25 percent reduction due to less-valuable stock options and grants.
For 2007, Rose got a salary of $1.13 million, a $610,720 performance bonus, and stock and options that the company valued at $10.77 million when they were granted. Rose, who also serves as chairman of the Fort Worth-based company, got $86,676 in other compensation, including $68,362 in matching contributions to retirement plans.
The Associated Press calculates total compensation including salary, bonuses, perks, above-market returns on deferred compensation and the estimated value of stock options and awards granted during the year. The total doesn’t include changes in the present value of pension benefits, and it can differ from the totals companies list in proxy statements filed with the SEC.
Also during last year, Rose exercised options on 375,906 shares that the company valued at $21.93 million, and 146,298 shares vested and were valued at $12.76 million, according to the proxy statement. Those figures were not included in AP’s calculation of Rose’s 2007 compensation.
Burlington Northern earned $1.83 billion last year, down 3 percent from 2006. Revenue rose 5 percent, however.
Railroads enjoyed heavy traffic on their lines in early 2007, although signs of a slowing economy began taking a toll later in the year. Burlington Northern, which operates the BNSF Railway Co., saw fourth-quarter profits decline as higher fuel costs pulled down record freight revenue.
The company’s shares rose from $73.81 to $83.23 in 2007 and gained another 9.6 percent this year through Monday, when they closed at $91.19.
Burlington Northern has said earnings this year will grow by double digits this year. The company plans to spend less on expansion, partly out of caution that the economy could slow further.