CONTINUING COVERAGE
AJC reporter Russell Grantham is tracking what Georgia’s major public companies pay their top executives. Look for periodic news and trend stories, as well as up-to-date statistics, as Grantham pores through this year’s corporate proxy statements.
Gentiva Health Services cut Chief Executive Tony Strange’s pay by 43 percent last year, to $2.3 million, after the Atlanta-based operator of home-health and hospice services missed its revenue targets.
It was the second big pay cut in as many years for Strange, 50, who gave up his role as the company’s chairman last month. Strange, who remains Gentiva’s CEO and president, joined the company in 2006 and was named CEO in 2009.
The look at Strange’s compensation is part of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s analysis of the pay of Georgia’s top executives over coming weeks. Executive pay has gained increased attention from investors and lawmakers in the wake of the 2007-2009 financial crisis and the Great Recession. Congress passed legislation in 2010 to give shareholders more say on executive pay.
In 2011, Strange’s compensation declined 23 percent, to $4 million, from $5.2 million in 2010.
Strange’s 2012 compensation included an $875,000 salary, $1.2 million bonus and $163,213 in perks.
Gentiva’s other top executives also have seen substantial pay cuts since 2010 as the firm suffered a big loss in 2011 and its revenues flatlined last year.
The company reported 2012 revenue of $1.7 billion, a 5 percent decline from the previous year. Gentiva’s net income last year was $27 million, up from a $450 million loss in 2011.
The 5,200-employee company, one of the nation’s largest providers of home-health and hospice services, has struggled with declining Medicare reimbursement rates. After a nearly $1 billion acquisition of a hospice services firm in 2010, Gentiva has closed 59 under-performing branches since late 2011.
Last week, some Wall Street analysts downgraded their ratings on Gentiva to “sell” or “strong sell” after the company warned that it expects Washington D.C.’s spending cuts due to sequestration to reduce 2013 revenues by $30 million and cut into profits.
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