Within the last couple of days there has been a significant change in management at KCS. Both the CFO and his deputy made a sudden departure. Nothing has been said by anybody, but neither had reached retirement age, and I don’t think that their departures are a coincidence.
The press release on this went out on Friday. Here’s the link from the KCS website:
http://notes.kcsi.com/WebApps/kcspress.nsf/626e6035eadbb4cd85256499006b15a6/4b4ac0a9bba3be338625716c0068c1de?OpenDocument
Reads in part:
"Kansas City, Mo., May 12, 2006 - Kansas City Southern (KCS) (NYSE: KSU) today announced the appointment of two new officers and the promotion of two officers.
Patrick J. Ottensmeyer has been named executive vice president and chief financial officer. Mr. Ottensmeyer brings over 25 years of financial experience to KCS. …He has also served as vice president finance and treasurer for BNSF Railway and senior vice president for Bank of America. …
Susan B. Wollenberg has been promoted to vice president financial planning and administration. Ms. Wollenberg joined KCS in early April 2006 and will serve as interim chief accounting officer. …
Julio Quintero has been named controller for Kansas City Southern de Mexico (KCSM) and will be based in Monterrey, N.L. While leading the accounting department in Monterrey, he will spend his first six months with the holding company in Kansas City to ensure standardized accounting procedures in both countries. …
T. Nicholas Nocita has been promoted from general director financial compliance to assistant vice president international internal audit and financial compliance and retains responsibility for Sarbanes Oxley compliance in both the U.S and Mexico. …
KCS thanks former executive vice president and chief financial officer Ronald G. Russ and former vice president and comptroller James S. Brook for their service to the company. "
Regards
Ed
Sudden departures by Financial Officers rarely portend good financial practices by those that are leaving.
Sounds like typical KCS corporate revolving door behavior to me. They have always been a little different than everybody else.
What you have here is a case of damage control, in advance of damage. Deny,Deny, Deny, if we says it did’t happen, it hasn’t happened. I suspect that time will prove both BaltACD and Mudchicken right on target…
mudchicken Posted: 16 May 2006, 22:51:01
Sounds like typical KCS corporate revolving door behavior to me. They have always been a little different than everybody
Sam
The interesting thing about this departure is that KCS has missed some important SEC deadlines lately for submitting financials, this even after they were granted an extension…
LC
For the record, who’s the majority holder of KCS’s debt?