VideoTwo finance chiefs mysteriously resigned their posts in the past two days.
On Thursday, Host Marriott Corp. said chief financial officer Robert E. Parsons Jr. would be leaving the company in the second quarter to pursue other opportunities. Interestingly, in the interim he will serve as the executive vice president, special projects, and continue to report to CEO Christopher Nassetta.
Parsons, who has been with the company and its predecessor, Marriott Corp., since 1981, has held the CFO position since 1995.
He will be replaced by COO W. Edward Walter. Walter served as treasurer prior to being appointed COO and has overseen Host Marriott's treasury and capital market activities for the past five years. He has also supervised its asset-management activities since 2000. Walter joined the company in 1996.
Management at Host, which owns 122 upscale and luxury full-service hotel properties primarily operated under the Marriott, Ritz-Carlton, Four Seasons, Hyatt, Hilton, and Swissotel brand names, said all of the company's financial activities will be consolidated under Walter's department.
"These changes are part of our ongoing effort to streamline our organizational structure while continuing to field an industry leading management team," said Nassetta in a statement.
Wall Street seemed surprised by the announcement.
"[Parsons's departure] was not expected," Bob Steers, co-portfolio manager at Cohen & Steers Capital Management Inc., an investor in real estate investment trusts, told Dow Jones.
The wire service added that two unnamed market experts speculated that Parsons may have been frustrated after being passed over for the CEO job when Terence Goldon stepped down in 2000.
Elsewhere, on Wednesday James R. Cannatar resigned as CFO of The Spiegel Group to become executive vice president of Nintendo Co.'s U.S. unit. Cannatar joined Spiegel in 1984 and was promoted to CFO in 2001.
Cannatar's resignation came one day after Spiegel's auditor, KPMG, said there was substantial doubt about the catalogue retailer's future after it failed to comply with some of its debt agreements.
In a letter to the company's board, KPMG added that "substantially all of the company's debt is currently due and payable" and that Spiegel has been unable to negotiate amended agreements with its lenders.
Also on Tuesday, Spiegel said the Securities and Exchange Commission was investigating the retailer because of late filings of its annual report for 2001 and quarterly reports for 2002.
The wire service reported that a company spokeswoman said the investigation was a "recent development" and that the retailer was informed of the probe within the past few weeks. "We are cooperating fully with the investigation," she told Reuters.
Snacking on Finance Pros
A pair of finance executives have emerged as big winners as part of a major management shakeup at PepsiCo.
On Thursday the soft drink and snack food company announced the retirement of Rogelio Rebolledo, president and CEO of Frito-Lay International, and Peter Thompson, president and CEO of PepsiCo Beverages International.
The company said 26-year PepsiCo veteran Al Bru has been promoted to chairman and CEO of Frito-Lay, PepsiCo's largest and most-profitable operating division. Bru has a marketing background.
However, Pepsi also promoted Michael D. White to chairman and CEO of a new division, called PepsiCo International, which will encompass PepsiCo's beverage, snack, and food operations outside of the United States and Canada. White has been CEO of Frito-Lay's Europe-Africa-Middle East division since 2000.
White, who joined the company 13 years ago, has served in a number of roles, including PepsiCo chief financial officer, as well as CFO of Pepsi-Cola Co. worldwide, PepsiCo Foods International, and Frito-Lay.
In addition, Pepsi said Indra Nooyi, PepsiCo president, CFO, and member of the board of directors, would assume a broadened role at the company. Her job will include developing new product platforms and improving the innovation success rate, consolidating business processes with information technology, integrating selling systems, and driving aggressive productivity gains, the company said.
"During nine years at PepsiCo, Nooyi has established herself as the company's chief strategist," Pepsi management said in a press release. "She played a pivotal part in the spin-off of the company's restaurants, the public offering of its bottling operations, the Tropicana acquisition and the Quaker merger."
SEC Adopts New Analyst Rules
On Thursday the SEC adopted Regulation Analyst Certification. The rule requires Wall Street research analysts to certify the truthfulness of their research reports and public appearances, and to disclose whether they have received any compensation related to the specific recommendations or views expressed in those reports and appearances.
Under the new regulation, the reports must include a statement by the analyst certifying that the views expressed in the report accurately reflect his or her personal views about the company's securities, as well as a statement by the analyst noting if compensation was related to the specific recommendations or views contained in the research report.
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