Pay package jumps 30 percent for Clearwater insurance exec

Improved financial results in 2018 led to a fatter paycheck for Bruce Lucas, chairman and CEO of Heritage Insurance Holdings Inc.

Lucas’ total compensation last year was $8.7 million, a nearly 30 percent increase from the $6.7 million he received in 2017, according to a proxy filed Wednesday with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

Like most publicly traded companies, Heritage (NYSE: HRTG), a property and casualty insurer based in Clearwater, ties executive pay to financial performance.

In 2018, the company’s revenue increased 18 percent to $480 million. Heritage had $27 million in net income last year, a big turnaround from a $1.1 million loss in 2017, and posted a 7 percent return on average equity. The company also reduced its debt, lowered its interest costs and received licenses to offer insurance in two more states, among other achievements.

The board of directors’ compensation committee took those results into account in considering Lucas’ pay package.

In addition to a 5 percent cost-of-living increase that boosted his base salary to $2.2 million, Lucas got $6.5 million in a cash incentive bonus. That included a $3 million discretionary bonus and $1.75 million because the company topped earnings expectations, as well as a share of a bonus pool for all employees.

Heritage did not say how Lucas’ pay compares to that of the company’s median employee, a ratio that most public companies are required to disclose.

Although Heritage is one of the larger publicly traded companies in the Tampa Bay area, it qualifies as an “emerging growth company” under SEC rules and is exempt from some disclosure rules.