An improved bottom line in 2016 led to slightly bigger paychecks for top executives at Murphy USA Inc. of El Dorado, with CEO Andrew Clyde reaping total compensation of nearly $6.2 million, up from $5.56 million the year before.
The numbers were reported in a proxy statement filed Thursday morning with the Securities & Exchange Commission.
Murphy USA, one of the nation's largest retail gasoline and convenience store chains, had a full-year profit of $221.5 million for 2016 despite a difficult fourth quarter, a return to shareholders of $5.59 per diluted share.
That performance paid off for Clyde, the president and chief executive officer, whose $991,667 salary was supplemented with stock awards of $2.7 million, option awards worth $770,000 and non-equity incentive compensation of nearly $1.4 million.
Mindy K. West, the company's executive vice president, chief financial officer and treasurer, also got a modest pay bump, making total compensation of $2.1 million compared with $1.98 million in 2015.
John A. Moore, senior vice president and general counsel, was paid $1.36 million, just above the $1.34 million of 2015, while Marn K. Cheng, senior vice president for retail operations, realized a small raise with total pay of $1.23 million.
Robert J. Chumley, who joined the company in 2016, had a partial-year salary of $273,523 as senior vice president for marketing.
The company, which had 1,401 locations nationwide at the end of the year, will hold its annual stockholders meeting at 1:30 p.m. May 4 at the South Arkansas Arts Center in El Dorado. Executive pay will be on the agenda, but shareholders will also vote on the election of three members of the board of directors whose terms are expiring. They are Claiborne P. Deming, chairman of the board of Murphy Oil Corp. of El Dorado; Thomas M. Gattle Jr., president and CEO of TerralRiver Service Inc.; and Jack T. Taylor, a director of Genesis Energy LP and chairman of Murphy USA's audit committee. All three have been members of the Murphy USA board since the company was spun off from Murphy Oil in 2013.
The proxy statement also listed compensation for Murphy USA directors, led by chairman of the board R. Madison Murphy, whose fees, stock awards and other considerations totaled $364,000.
Other directors and their compensation were Deming, $217,000; Gattle, $202,000; Robert A. Hermes, $169,000; Fred L. Holliger, $200,000; Christoph Keller III, $200,000; James W. Keyes, $194,000; Diane N. Landen, $225,000; David B. Miller, $190,000; and Taylor, $240,000.
