Hudson City CEO Gets $7.2M in 2007

CEO Ronald E. Hermance Jr.'s pay package represented a 22 percent decrease from his 2006 compensation, which totaled $9.2 million.

Hermance received a $1.2 million annual salary and a $2 million performance-based bonus in 2007.

"Mr. Hermance's incentive payout for 2007 reflects the compensation committee's assessment of his success in directing the company to record earnings on record mortgage volume with continued deposit growth and sustained operating efficiency in a year when many other mortgage lenders and depository institutions were posting substantial credit losses and declining new business," Hudson City said in the proxy filing.

The CEO's pay package was also boosted by option awards valued at $3.3 million on the day they were granted.

His other compensation totaled nearly $625,000 and included a $50,000 company match of a charitable contribution and roughly $30,000 for his use of a company car. He also received $7,500 for club dues.

Apart from his 2007 compensation, Hermance realized about $250,000 on vesting stock awards.

The AP's total pay calculations 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.

For the full year, Hudson City's net income grew roughly 3 percent to $295.9 million, or 58 cents per share. Fourth-quarter profit rose to a record high of $77.5 million, or 16 cents per share.

The Paramus, N.J.-based company avoided the pitfalls that trapped other mortgage companies by focusing on traditional prime mortgages, rather than subprime loans and other risky products. Hudson City also keeps mortgages on the bank's books rather than selling them to companies that pool mortgages into securities bought by other investors.