Tropical Storm Helene, inflation and higher labor costs ate into Ingles Markets’ profits last year, but the company’s board chairman still received a bonus of more than $6 million.

Robert P. Ingle II, son of the Black Mountain-based grocery chain founder, received a total of $7.4 million in compensation in 2024, including a salary of $1.2 million and bonus of nearly $6.1 million. That’s a 7 percent decrease from his 2023 package of nearly $8 million, according to a proxy statement filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission Friday.

Ingles’ Chief Executive Officer and President James W. Lanning received $3.1 million, 5 percent less than 2023. His bonus for 2024 was nearly $2 million.

Although the company’s fiscal year results included only two days following the storm, Helene contributed to lower profits for the company in 2024, as Asheville Watchdog previously reported. The Sept. 27 storm knocked out power to 80 of the company’s 198 stores, forced the closure of four stores, and damaged the Black Mountain distribution center and corporate headquarters.

The grocery company lost $14 million in sales and nearly $35 million in inventory and property damage as of Sept. 28, the day after the storm and the end of Ingles’ fiscal year. Although partially offset by insurance, losses were expected to grow in the early part of this year, the company’s annual report said.

Net income was also down: $105.5 million in 2024 compared to $210.8 million the previous year. The company attributed the loss to “inflation in the cost of goods and increases in operating expenses due to increased labor market competition,” according to the report. 

Ingles awards monthly bonuses to managers based on the performance of their business units and discretionary annual bonuses to some associates and to executives based on company performance. Ingles paid $29.2 million in bonuses last year, down from $34.4 million in 2023, the annual report said. 

Ingles reported a slight increase in the wages of its full-time, part-time and temporary employees. In 2024 the 24,285 employees as of Sept. 15 earned a median salary of $22,801, an increase of $93 annually over the $22,708 median salary for 26,253 employees as of September 2023. 

The company’s fiscal year consisted of 53 weeks in 2023 versus 52 weeks in 2024, which would make the median associate’s weekly salary $438 last year, a $10 increase over the previous year.

The gap between Lanning’s compensation and that of other Ingles employees, known in the SEC filings as the CEO pay ratio, decreased to 137-to-1 in 2024 from 145-to-1 in 2023.

The company’s annual meeting of shareholders is scheduled for March 3. A shareholder proposal to increase the size of the board of directors by adding two Class A shareholder seats is expected to be rejected. Robert P. Ingle holds nearly 73 percent of the voting power at the company and intends to oppose the measure, the proxy statement said.

The proxy statement also indicates that while she remains a director of the company, Laura Lynn Ingle Sharp, Robert P. Ingle’s sister and namesake of the Laura Lynn brands sold at Ingles, no longer holds any shares of the company.

Asheville Watchdog is a nonprofit news team producing stories that matter to Asheville and Buncombe County. Sally Kestin is a Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative reporter. Email skestin@avlwatchdog.org. The Watchdog’s reporting is made possible by donations from the community. To show your support for this vital public service go to avlwatchdog.org/support-our-publication/.

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