PNC Financial CEO Pay Falls 41 Percent In 2008

By IEVA M. AUGSTUMS

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — PNC Financial Services Group Inc. Chief Executive James E. Rohr received compensation of $8.5 million in 2008, down nearly 41 percent from the previous year, according to a proxy statement filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission Wednesday.

Last year, the broader banking sector was hammered by the ongoing credit crisis and growing recession. Rohr received $14.4 million in compensation in 2007.

Rohr's base salary increased 5 percent to $1 million in 2008 from $950,000 in 2007. He received no performance-related cash bonus in 2008, compared with the $2.6 million he received in 2007.

His 2008 compensation also included stock options and restricted stock valued at $7.3 million on the day they were awarded. In 2007, Rohr received stock options and restricted stock valued at $10.6 million.

Rohr also received other compensation of $232,098 in 2008, including items such as personal aircraft use, company contributions to retirement accounts and insurance premiums. That was down 14.7 percent from the previous year.

The Associated Press calculations of total pay include executives salary, bonus, incentives, perks, above-market returns on deferred compensation 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.