TECO chief was paid $765,000 for 7 months

By KYLE PARKS

© St. Petersburg Times, published March 7, 2000

TAMPA -- TECO Energy Inc.'s new chief executive, Robert Fagan, was paid about $765,000 for seven months of work last year, including a hefty moving allowance of $239,472.

After Fagan arrived in June from PP&L Resources Inc., a Pennsylvania utility company, TECO helped him with a wide range of expenses. The company covered the cost of temporary housing for him last summer, and it paid for trips back and forth to visit his family before his move.

According to TECO's proxy statement, his total compensation for last year included a salary of $253,333 for the seven months he worked, a bonus of $266,321 and the moving allowance.

By comparison, Fagan's predecessor Girard F. Anderson earned $500,000 in salary and $270,500 in bonuses in 1998, a total of $770,500. Anderson was TECO's chief executive before Fagan's arrival and continued to serve as chairman until Dec. 1, when Fagan took that title, too.

Beyond his 1999 pay, Fagan was awarded stock options that could be worth $724,216 if TECO's stock stays at or above current levels.

Fagan was hired to revive the earnings and stock performance of the Tampa-based utility company. Since his arrival, he has made a series of small moves, such as a stock buyback program and the sale of a money-losing technology unit. But so far, the company's stock hasn't responded.

TECO shares closed Monday at $17.63, down 69 cents, off the 52-week high of $23.81.

If an investor had bought $100 worth of TECO stock in 1994, it was worth $117 at the end of 1999. A similar investment in the S&P electric utilities index would have been worth $154, and an investment in the S&P 500 index would have been worth $351.

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