CarMax CEO gets comp of $2.96M in fiscal 2009

RICHMOND, Va. — The chief executive of auto retailer CarMax Inc., Tom Folliard, received a compensation package valued at more than $2.96 million for fiscal 2009, according to an Associated Press analysis of figures in a regulatory filing.

Total compensation for Folliard, who also serves as president of the Richmond-based company, rose about 5 percent from the $2.82 million he received the previous year, according to a proxy statement filed Friday with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Folliard, 44, received a base salary of $846,154, up from $819,231 the previous year, the filing said. He has received no bonus the last two years. All other compensation, or perks that included personal use of the company plane and a personal car allowance, rose to $88,350 from $84,756 a year earlier.

The bulk of Folliard’s compensation came from the value of stock and option awards. The awards, granted April 7, 2008, had a total value that day of more than $2 million, according to the filing.

Folliard has served as president and chief executive officer since 2006.

CarMax, which operates 100 stores, saw its sales tumble last year as a result of the steep industrywide plunge in consumer demand for new vehicles. In addition, increasingly tight credit markets made it tough for many consumers who did want to buy vehicles to get the financing they needed.

For the full year, the company posted profit of $59.2 million, or 27 cents per share, down 67.5 percent from $182 million, or 83 cents per share, in fiscal 2008. Sales fell 15 percent to $6.97 billion from $8.2 billion the previous year.

Shares of CarMax dropped about 50 percent during its fiscal year ended Feb. 28 to close the year at $9.43.

The Associated Press’ compensation formula aims to isolate the value the company’s board placed on the executive’s total compensation package during the last fiscal year. It includes salary, bonus, performance-related bonuses, 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 SEC, which reflect the size of the accounting charge taken for the executive’s compensation in the previous fiscal year.