Kroger CEO's pay plunges 19%

Cincinnati A filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission showed Friday that the compensation Kroger Co. gave its CEO, David B. Dillon, in 2009 dropped nearly 19% from the year before.

Dillon's largely performance-related compensation for 2009 was valued at $6.71 million, down from $8.25 million in 2008.

Dillon's annual salary rose nearly 3% to $1.24 million, but his performance-based bonus fell 21% to $1.23 million, from $1.57 million in 2008.

Kroger's executive compensation committee said in the filing that the company missed its growth targets for sales and profit.

The company operates nearly 2,500 grocery stores in 31 states.