NSM CEO’s fiscal 2009 compensation valued at $3.9M

NEW YORK — The CEO of National Semiconductor Corp. saw the value of his compensation package decline 36 percent in fiscal 2009, according to an Associated Press calculation of figures disclosed in a regulatory filing.

Brian L. Halla, who also serves as chairman, received total compensation valued at about $3.9 million, according to the AP calculation. This is down from $6 million in fiscal 2008.

Halla’s base salary totaled $838,658, down 5 percent from a year earlier, according to a proxy statement the company filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on Tuesday.

He received no performance-based cash bonus during the fiscal year, which ended in May. It was a challenging time for the company and for the chip industry in general, as businesses and customers cut back spending on technology products. Faced with a steep sales decline amid the economic downturn, National Semi announced in March it was cutting 1,725 jobs, or about a quarter of its work force.

Halla’s perks totaled $13,475, down about 5 percent from the prior year due to a slight decline in company retirement plan contributions.

The bulk of Halla’s compensation package consisted of restricted shares valued at $3 million on the date they were granted. This award is contingent on the company meeting certain performance targets in fiscal 2009 and 2010.

The Associated Press compensation formula is designed 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 Securities and Exchange Commission, which reflect the size of the accounting charge taken for the executive’s compensation in the previous fiscal year.

National Semi closed the year with a fourth-quarter loss and a 39 percent sales decline, to $280.8 million. Its full-year profit dropped sharply, to $73 million, from $332 million in fiscal 2008. Sales fell to $1.46 billion from $1.89 billion.

Shares of Santa Clara, Calif.-based National Semi dropped 34 percent during the fiscal year to close at $13.88 at the end of May.