Stockholders have lots to say about Southland oil companies' earnings.

Stockholders owning shares of Los Angeles' top three oil companies had a lot to say about executive compensation recently -- especially in light of the mostly disappointing earnings announced at the latest annual shareholders meetings.

Westwood-based Occidental Petroleum Corp. had a per-share loss of 20 cents (excluding special items) for the first quarter vs. per-share operating profits of 3 cents the year before. Downtown L.A.-based Atlantic Richfield Co.'s first quarter per-share earnings were slashed to 92 cents from $1.60, and Unocal Corp., also based in downtown L.A., reported its first quarter per-share operating profits slipped to 22 cents from 37 cents.

Two of the three also had worse 1993 total stockholder returns -- per share dividends plus per share changes in the stock price divided by the earlier stock price -- than the 5.356 percent scored by the composite peer group of 11 domestic, integrated oil companies tracked by New York credit rating agency Standard & Poor's Corp.

According to S&P, Occidental stock yielded a 5.10 percent return last year, while Arco stock showed a loss of 3.82 percent.

Only downtown L.A.-based Unocal Corp. came out ahead in this ranking -- posting a 12.11 percent return.

Still, at the annual shareholders meetings, Unocal stockholders initiated proposals to limit the compensation of senior executives and directors to two times the salary given to the U.S. president. Occidental shareholders did the same at their meeting.

According to their calculations, that amount is equal to $400,000.

Unocal Chief Executive Richard J. Stegemeier was paid annual compensation, including salary and bonus, of more than $1.1 million in 1993, according to a March 16 proxy statement issued by the company. He was also due "long-term compensation" equal to another $788,724, according to the statement.

Four other Unocal executives were paid between $398,333 and $751,667 and were also entitled to additional long-term benefits.

At Occidental, more than $3.6 million was paid in 1993 to Ray R. Irani, the company's chairman, president, chief executive and board member, according to the firm's March 14 proxy statement. Separately, Irani was due more than $2.4 million in long-term compensation awards, according to the statement.

Compensation paid in 1993 to four other Occidental executives, three of whom also sit on its board, ranged from $598,500 to $1.1 million. Separate and sizable long term-compensation was also noted.

Claiming widespread dissatisfaction with board member decisions, Occidental shareholders put up for vote a proposal to impose a mandatory retirement age for directors. According to the proxy statement, it was the eighth time a proposal like this had come up for a vote.

This time the proposed age for retirement was set at 72 years old. Six of the 13 board members are older than that.

In explaining this proposal at the shareholder meeting, proponent Charles Fuller, who owns 700 shares of Occidental stock, noted returns on investment were unsatisfactory during a time when three board members literally have died in office.

"Supreme Court justices at least have the sense to step down," quipped Fuller to notable applause.

All the shareholder proposals presented at the Unocal and Occidental meetings to cap pay and retirement ages were voted down.

In contrast, officials from Arco decided to take the initiative on changing its formula for executive compensation this year, and won shareholder approval of the proposal.

Chief Executive Lodwrick M. Cook told the Business Journal the move was prompted by changes in U.S. tax laws which would limit the deductibility of cash bonus plans.

The new plan sets maximum award levels for each person qualifying for Arco's annual incentive plan and limits the size of the total funding pool to 2 percent of adjusted net income. It also establishes a measure of performance tied to how Arco's three-year return on stockholders' equity compares with that of its peers. According to the formula, no bonuses will be paid if Arco's return is less than 75 percent of its peers'.

In addition, the board won shareholder approval to adopt a special incentive plan to reward individual performances that it stated could not be appraised strictly by quantitative criteria. Funding for these bonuses will be limited to $3.5 million each year.

Arco's board also gained stockholder approval for annual board elections (vs. every three years now), a decision made in response to a shareholder proposal made in 1993. Though the proposal was voted down last year, said Cook, it got enough votes -- about 30 percent, according to his estimate -- to merit future consideration by Arco's board.

Last year's proposal was presented by the Central Pension Fund of the International Union of Operating Engineers which owned 30,253 shares of Arco stock.