No bonus for Post Properties’ CEO after big losses

In light of sharp losses for the fourth quarter and the year, Post Properties’ CEO did not get a bonus, other executives received smaller bonuses and the chairman has opted to forgo any compensation this year.

President and CEO David Stockert was to receive a $420,000 bonus but got nothing as part of Post’s effort to cut costs. The information was contained in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

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Mikki K. Harris / mkharris@ajc.com

Post has many apartment complexes around metro Atlanta, including Post Stratford.

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Bonuses for three other top executives were cut by 70 percent. Thomas Wilkes, executive vice president and president, Post Apartment Management, saw his bonus of $264,000 reduced to $79,200. Christopher Papa, executive vice president and CFO, was supposed to get $256,000 but received $76,800. And Sherry Cohen, executive vice president and corporate secretary, was awarded $52,200; her target bonus was $174,000.

Other officers saw their bonuses halved, and salaries for all Post employees making at least $50,000 were frozen.

Board Chairman Robert Goddard III, chairman and CEO of Goddard Investment Group LLC, chose to give up his $100,000 retainer and any stock compensation for 2009. He also limited his 2008 stock compensation to the $60,000 restricted stock grant awarded to all other non-employee directors.

Atlanta-based Post is one of the country’s largest developers and operators of upscale multifamily communities, mostly apartments.

A real estate investment trust, Post reported late Wednesday losses in its fourth-quarter and year-end report. The quarterly loss was $15.3 million compared to earnings of $77.3 million for the same period in 2007.

For the year Post lost $16.3 million; the year before it earned $171.1 million.

The company’s quarterly funds from operations were down $47.2 million, or $1.06 a share. The FFO, or cash flow, deficit was $29.8 million for the year — a decline of 67 cents a share. In 2007 Post had positive FFO: $107 million for the year and $1.2 million for the last quarter.

The biggest reason for the losses was non-cash impairment charges on land that’s fallen in value. Those charges were $60 million for the quarter and $87.8 million for the year.

Another charge — $2.9 million for the quarter and $5.5 million for the year — was related to severance packages. Post has cut about 15 percent of its workforce.

Stockert told analysts Thursday that national job losses are hurting Post’s bottom line. “To get to 9 percent [unemployment] doesn’t take much,” he said. “As we mount up to 5 to 6 million job losses or more, that’s bound to have an impact on revenues.”

At the same time, fewer people are leaving apartments to buy homes, which helps Post, he said. Post’s average rent in Atlanta last year was $1,146 and nationwide it was $1,303.

Rental income from Post’s 14,000 apartment units declined 1.1 percent in the last quarter compared to the same quarter in 2007, while expenses increased 1.5 percent. For the year, rental revenue was up 1.4 percent.

Post is trying to sell three apartment complexes, including two local ones — Post Ridge and Post Dunwoody.