The chairman and chief executive of M&T Bank Corp., Robert Wilmers, saw his overall compensation nearly triple in 2009, due mainly to stock options that vest over time, according to an Associated Press analysis of a regulatory filing Friday.

Wilmers received total compensation valued at $2.7 million in 2009, according to the filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

He was given a base salary of $675,000, up about 4 percent from the year before. The increase in base pay was primarily due to more pay periods last year than in 2008, a year in which Wilmers' total compensation was calculated at $710,128.

Additionally, Wilmers received other compensation last year valued at $65,222, which included life insurance premiums, retirement plan contributions, club membership dues and expenses, parking and meals and expenses related to an apartment in Buffalo, N.Y., where the bank is based.

As with 2008, he didn't receive a cash bonus last year.

Wilmers, 75, received $2 million in stock options, 10 percent of which vested in January. Twenty percent vests next January, 30 percent in 2012 and the remaining 40 percent in 2013.

The company said its compensation committee awarded the options to Wilmers although he hadn't requested to be eligible. The company said it remained profitable in a difficult operating environment and the board's compensation committee decided to award the restricted options for that performance and as a retention tool.

The AP's calculations of total pay include executives' salary, bonus, incentives, perks, and the estimated value of stock options and awards granted during the year. The calculations of total pay may differ from companies' totals, listed in their proxies.

Separately, Wilmers realized $2.2 million in the exercise of stock option awards last year, according to the filing.

The regional bank posted a 21 percent jump in its fourth-quarter profit in January on higher interest income and lower provisions for credit losses. The results beat Wall Street expectations.

For the year, the company earned $332 million, or $2.89 per share, down from $555 million, or $5.01 per share, a year earlier.