SPX CEO awarded $9 million in 2007 compensation

BOSTON, March 26 (Reuters) - Diversified U.S. manufacturer SPX Corp (SPW.N: Quote, Profile, Research) awarded its chief executive, Chris Kearney, compensation worth about $9 million last year, according to a regulatory filing on Wednesday.

That award was some 34 percent higher than his 2006 compensation and came in a year the maker of cooling towers and equipment used in oil and gas production saw its shares rise about 69 percent, sharply outperforming the major U.S. equity indexes.

The company's proxy statement with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission showed that Kearney's 2007 compensation included $1 million in salary, $2.5 million in non-equity compensation, and other compensation worth $570,964, plus plan-based awards worth $4.9 million as of their grant dates.

The year before, the Charlotte, North Carolina-based company awarded Kearney salary, non-equity compensation and other compensation worth about $3.2 million, plus plan-based awards worth about $3.5 million as of their grant dates.

SPX shares were down 77 cents at $106.83 on the New York Stock Exchange. They have risen 3.6 percent this year, while the Standard & Poor's 1500 Capital Goods Industry Group Index is down 6.3 percent. (Reporting by Scott Malone; Editing by Brian Moss)