- Managers at Denver-based mutual fund giant Janus Capital Corp., added a star to its executive roster. Loren Starr, a former manager at rival Putnam Investments, was tapped chief financial officer. The position at Janus, which is a division of Stilwell Financial Inc., had been vacant since September 2000, when Steven Goodbarn stepped down to pursue other interests. Starr will assume the CFO post in late September. Since Goodbarn’s resignation, the position has been held by three other Janus executives: Matt Luoma, Glenn O’Flaherty and Eric Montag.
Star’s job won’t be easy. Janus, which was heavily exposed to the technology sector through its aggressive growth funds, has been hard hit by the declining stock market. The company managed $211.1 billion in assets as of June 30, down from $303.7 billion a year earlier. Net income dropped 30 percent to $183.8 million in the first six months of the year, according to a regulatory filing earlier this month. First half revenues at the mutual fund company fell 23.2 percent to $817.6 million from $1.06 billion.
Prior to joining Janus, Starr served as managing director and head of corporate finance at Boston-based Putnam, a division of insurance broker Marsh & McLennan Cos Inc., since 1998. Like Janus, Putnam has been hard hit by the crash of technology share prices and a generally depressed stock market. Assets under management fell to $339 billion at the end of the second quarter from $407 billion a year earlier. Putnam has not yet named a successor to Starr, a company spokesperson told Reuters.
Starr joined the mutual fund industry from the investment banking world. He was senior vice president at Lehman Brothers and prior to that, vice president at Morgan Stanley.
- Michael J. Casey, executive vice president and chief financial officer at Atlanta-based Internet consulting company, iXL, announced that he is leaving in September to pursue other opportunities. Casey was appointed CFO at the company following its merger agreement with New York-based rival, Scinet, in July. The two embattled consultancies, whose stocks are trading at fractions of their values prior to the dot-com meltdown, are combining in hopes of bouncing back.
iXL controller, David Morgan, will assume Casey’s responsibilities at iXL. Following the completion of the merger, Scient Controller Michael Hand will assume the responsibilities of the chief financial officer for the new company until a new CFO is selected.
For the three months ended June 30, 2001, iXL made $32.7 million in revenue, down from $118.4 million for the same period in 2000. The struggling company reported a pro forma net loss of $9.8 million or $0.10 per share for the three months ended June 30, 2001, compared to pro forma net income of $3.6 million or $0.05 per share for the same period in 2000. In May, iXL announced that it cut its workforce from approximately 1,300 employees to 1,000.
For its first fiscal quarter ended June 30, 2001, Scient reported $11.3 million in revenues, compared to $91.4 million in the same period a year ago. Revenues declined 58% since the previous quarter. On a pro- forma basis, Scient reported an operating loss of $14.8 million.
- Managers at Tecumseh Products Co., an air conditioner and lawn equipment engine maker, announced that David Kay will succeed John Foss as vice president, treasurer and chief financial officer. The appointment goes into effect on Oct. 1, when Foss retires. Kay, who is a certified public accountant and currently the company’s corporate controller, began his career as a public accountant in 1980 and joined Tecumseh Products in 1999. Prior to that, he held a variety of accounting and finance positions at Sharon Steel Corp., based in Farrell, Pa., and RTI International Metals, a manufacturer of titanium mill products.
The Tecumseh, Mich.-based company reported second-quarter net income of $17.5 million, or 94 cents per share, compared with $28.5 million, or $1.47 per share, a year ago. Results were hurt by the settlement of a $1.3 million foreign tax claim, according to a company statement. Net sales fell to $382.0 million from $466.4 million a year ago. Managers at the company stated that restructuring steps are ”highly likely.”
- International Remote Imaging Systems, Inc., a Chatsworth, Calif.-based urinalysis (you heard it hear first) technology and medical devices manufacturer, tapped John Caloz chief financial officer and vice president of finance. Caloz be the first person to hold the CFO post at the company. He will be responsible for the finance, human resources and management information systems.
Caloz served most recently as CFO of Synarc, Inc., a San Francisco- based startup medical imaging services company with 120 employees, and operations in the US and Europe. From 1993 to 1999 he was senior vice president of finance and CFO at Phoenix International Life Sciences Inc., a Montreal-based pharmaceutical and biotechnology research company. From 1983 to 1993, Caloz was a partner at Rooney, Greig, Whitrod, Filion & Assoc., based in Saint Laurent, Quebec, a firm of chartered accountants specializing in research and development and high tech companies. He holds a BA in accounting from York University, Toronto.
For the six months ended June 2001, the company’s sales rose less than 1 percent to $14.3 million. Net income from continuing operations declined 44 percent to $736 thousand.