Drexel Says Bonus Payments Were Less Than Reported : Junk Bonds: The firm releases detailed figures after criticism from its creditors.

Drexel Burnham Lambert Inc. said Friday that it paid 1989 bonuses of $196 million in cash and $64 million in company stock, less than reports that pointed to large payments prior to the firm’s collapse.

Drexel released details about the payments after harsh reaction from bankruptcy court creditors who criticized the firm for reportedly paying up to $350 million in bonuses shortly before its parent filed for Chapter 11 protection.

Drexel said 44%, or $113 million, of the total bonuses was guaranteed to executives and top professionals early in 1989 in an effort to keep them at the firm after it agreed to plead guilty to securities crimes and pay $650 million in penalties.

With the firm’s demise, the value of bonuses taken in stock in Drexel’s parent became potentially worthless.

“What it says is these bonuses were part of the ongoing business activities,” Drexel spokesman Steven Anreder said. “There was nothing extraordinary and in fact they were prudently pared back in light of the changed business conditions.”

But William Schopf, general counsel for First City Bancorp. of Texas, one of the largest creditors, said the disclosure does not resolve questions about Drexel’s financial state at the time of the payments and why the firm made guarantees despite its uncertain condition.

Drexel said the bonuses, of which $150 million were paid in December and $110 million in January, were 60% below the amount paid in the same two months a year earlier, when Drexel said it paid $505 million.

The disclosure came as questions about Drexel’s demise grew and anger over the bonuses intensified.

Two congressional panels scheduled inquiries into the collapse and creditors asked a bankruptcy court judge to appoint an examiner to oversee the company’s management.

In papers filed in U.S. Bankruptcy Court, First City accused the parent company and its brokerage subsidiary of dissipating billions of dollars in assets without prior knowledge or court supervision and asked a bankruptcy court judge Friday to appoint an examiner to oversee the company’s management.

The matter will be considered at a hearing next Thursday before U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Howard Buschman III.

First City said it wants more information about the liquidation of billions of dollars in assets by the brokerage subsidiary, including Drexel’s payment of as much as $350 million in bonuses in the weeks before its collapse. Some executives reportedly received up to $20 million.

An examiner “can zero in directly on the two questions we’re interested in right now: the massive and rapid disposal of assets that seems to be going on and the bonus payments,” said James E. Day, a First City senior vice president.

In court papers, First City said it has been unable to obtain information about Drexel’s assets and operations despite a meeting with a Drexel employee on Thursday.

The creditor also said an order by Buschman granting Drexel a 90-day extension to file financial data disclosure, which First City has challenged, has slowed the process.