The chief executive of Dean Foods Co.'s pay plunged 42% last
year as the company grappled with persistent challenges in the milk
industry.
Dean CEO Gregg Tanner received $3.7 million in total
compensation, including stock awards and other payments, in 2013,
down from $6.4 million a year earlier, according to an annual proxy
filing Friday with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
Other senior Dean executives also received lower compensation
last year, according to the filing.
Dean's stock price fell 47% last year as the largest U.S. milk
processor by sales struggled to manage the rising cost of raw milk
and consumers' reduced appetite for dairy-based beverages. The
Dallas company also suffered the loss last year of Wal-Mart Stores
Inc. as a major retail customer.
Dean, which estimates it buys about 10% of the raw milk produced
in the U.S., forecast earlier this year that the cost of the
commodity would rise 17% in the first quarter compared with the end
of 2013. Surging exports of U.S. dairy products to China and other
Asian countries are driving up the cost of key dairy components
such as milk powder for processors like Dean.
"Fiscal year 2013 was challenging for Dean Foods," company
officials wrote in Friday's filing. As a result, senior executives
received no short-term incentive pay tied to the company's
performance last year, according to the document.
Dean reported a $37.7 million fourth-quarter loss in
February.
Shares in Dean were down 1.1% Friday at $15.18. The stock has
fallen 11% so far this year.
Write to Jacob Bunge at jacob.bunge@wsj.com
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