Markets

Onyx Makes a Profit and Management Takes the Cash

By Jim Edwards

Updated on: April 13, 2009 / 5:05 PM EDT / MoneyWatch

Onyx finally made a profit last year -- the first time the cancer drug developer has gone into the black in the last five years. It made $1.9 million and returned just 3 cents a share, on revenues of $194 million. Those revenues were nearly double the year before as Onyx's deal with Bayer on the drug Nexavar fully kicked in.

Could that profit have been any higher? Yes, it could, had not the top executives at the company gotten such hefty raises in compensation. In 2007, the company's four named executives received $6.8 million between them. In 2008, those top four had become the top six, and they shared $11 million in total compensation. In other words, executive compensation was roughly five times the profits the company returned to shareholders.

Now, Onyx has some excuses: They replaced a CEO, added an HR chief and a corporate development chief. But those moves were offset somewhat by the fact that the new CEO, N. Anthony Coles, was paid $2.8 million in total compensation even though he only arrived in March, whereas the outgoing boss, Hollings C. Renton, only earned $2.5 million before he left. Coles' basic salary nearly quadrupled over Renton's.

Here's the summary:

Name, 2008 pay, 2007 pay
CEO N. Anthony Coles, $2.8 million, NA
Ex-CEO Hollings Renton, $2.5 million, $2.6 million
CFO Gregory Schafer, $818,000, $690,000
HR chief Judy Batlin, $937,000, NA
COO Laura Brege, $1.7 million, $1.4 million
Ex- chief medical officer Henry Fuchs, $2.2 million, $2.1 million
SVP corp. dev. Juergen Lasowski, $1 million, NA Numbers are rounded, includes stocks and options whose value changes over time.