ATLANTA (Reuters) - Home Depot Inc (HD.N: Quote, Profile, Research) paid its chairman and chief executive $7.6 million in 2007, but the home improvement retailer awarded no incentive pay to most top executives as earnings fell for the second straight year.

Frank Blake, who was named CEO in early 2007 after Robert Nardelli resigned, earned $7.6 million in 2007, including salary, bonus, the value of stock and option awards and other compensation, according to a proxy filed by Home Depot with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Friday.

That is up from the $7.2 million Blake earned in 2006, when he served as executive vice president for business development and corporate operations.

In the filing, Home Depot said executive pay "reflects the tough business environment we faced in 2007." It added that no incentive compensation was paid to most executive officers under the financial portion of its annual bonus or long-term incentive plans since targets were not met.

Blake's total pay for 2007 trailed the $9.09 million earned by Robert Niblock, chairman of Lowe's Cos Inc (LOW.N: Quote, Profile, Research), which is Home Depot's chief rival.

Though Niblock received no bonus or non-equity incentive plan pay in 2007 as Lowe's net earnings fell, his compensation was aided by stock and option awards valued at $7.9 million, according to Lowe's preliminary proxy.

Home Depot's earnings fell 23.7 percent to about $4.4 billion during fiscal 2007 as the crumbling U.S. housing market hurt sales. The retailer's net income dropped 1.3 percent in 2006 and Home Depot has said it also expects earnings to fall in the current year.

Home Depot moved to tie most of Blake's pay to performance last year after criticism it overpaid Nardelli, who worked for six years at the home improvement chain before he resigned under fire.

Nardelli, who now runs U.S. automaker Chrysler, was paid $134.5 million by Home Depot for 2006 as he benefited from accelerated vesting of restricted and deferred shares under the terms of his employment agreement.