Sara Lee former CEO Brenda Barnes received compensation valued at $11.5 million in fiscal 2010

Sara Lee former CEO saw boost in 2010 pay package

PORTLAND, Ore. — Brenda Barnes, the former chairman and CEO of Sara Lee Corp., received compensation valued at $11.5 million in the company’s most recent fiscal year, up 8 percent from the prior year, according to an Associated Press analysis of documents filed with regulators this week.

Barnes took medical leave in May to recover from a stroke and stepped down permanently from her position in August, just over a month after the end of the fiscal year. Chief Financial Officer Marcel Smits took over as interim chief executive, effective May 14.

Sara Lee, the Downers Grove, Ill.-based maker of breads and other foods, increased Barnes’ salary just over 2 percent in 2010. Her performance-based incentive bonus grew nearly 42 percent to $3.1 million as she led a turnaround effort at the company.

The value of her stock and other options was down nearly 2 percent to just under $7 million. She was granted $298,494 in perks such as a car allowance, financial counseling and life insurance premiums paid by the company.

The Associated Press formula is designed to isolate the value the company’s board placed on the executive’s total compensation package during the last fiscal year. It includes salary, bonus, performance-related bonuses, 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, which reflect the size of the accounting charge taken for the executive’s compensation in the previous fiscal year

Sara Lee, which has been trimming its business units to focus on its core food and beverage business, earned $506 million, or 73 cents per share, during the latest fiscal year ended July 3. That’s up from $364 million, or 52 cents per share, the prior year. Revenue fell less than 1 percent to $10.79 billion for the year.

During fiscal 2010, the company’s shares traded between $9.20 and $14.95. They closed Thursday at $14.08, down 5 cents.