Cintas CEO got compensation worth $1.1M in 2009

NEW YORK — The CEO of work uniform supplier Cintas Corp. received compensation worth $1.1 million in the past fiscal year, according to an Associated Press analysis of a regulatory filing.

Scott Farmer’s total compensation fell 19 percent from the previous year because the value of his stock and options awards and his performance-based cash bonus both fell by half.

For the year ended May 31, Farmer’s salary grew 4 percent, to $725,000 from $700,000. The value of his stock and options on the dates they were granted fell 50 percent, to about $182,000 from around $364,000. His performance-based cash bonus shrank by 49 percent, to $120,000 from $235,000. As in 2008, Farmer received no other bonuses or deferred compensation.

Shares of Cintas sank 21.1 percent in fiscal 2009, to $23.29 from $29.52. On Thursday, they closed at $27.26.

The value of his other compensation rose 17 percent, to about $70,000 from $60,000. Farmer’s other compensation includes reimbursement for cars, club dues, restricted stock dividends, medical care, financial planning, use of the company aircraft, and Partners’ Plan contributions.

Farmer, 50, has been CEO of San Jose, Calif.-based Cintas since 2003.

The Associated Press formula for executive compensation is designed to isolate the value the company’s board placed on the executive’s total compensation package during the past 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.