Home Capital shares dive after company terminates CEO
Search for new CEO underway
Shares of Home Capital Group Inc. lost almost 10 per cent on the TSX on Tuesday, a day after the company said it had terminated its top executive.
Home Capital announced Monday after stock markets had closed that that Martin Reid, its president and CEO, was out, effective immediately.
Investors responded by sending shares of Home Capital down $2.66 to finish at $25.06 on the TSX.
Reid has been replaced by Bonita Then, a member of Home Capital's board of directors, until a new permanent CEO can be hired.
"Home Capital requires leadership that can bring to bear a renewed operational discipline, emphasis on risk management and controls, and focus on improving performance," said Kevin P.D. Smith, the chair of company's board, in a statement.
In February, Home Capital said it had received an enforcement notice from the Ontario Securities Commission related to its disclosure in 2014 and 2015 about the impact of the company's findings that income information submitted on some loan applications had been falsified, and its subsequent move to suspend some brokers and brokerages.
The company said in February that the OSC issued a preliminary conclusion that Home Capital. failed to meet its continuous disclosure obligations during that period in 2014 and 2015. Home Capital has said it believes its disclosure met requirements.
Home Capital also announced on March 14 that several company officers and directors had also received enforcement notices from the OSC.
In a research note to clients, TD Securities suggested the termination of Reid was likely related to board unhappiness with the pace of change at the company and performance against strategic targets, such as revenue growth, cost reductions, and improving operating leverage.
"This development does not appear to be in direct relation to the recent notices of enforcement received from the OSC," analyst Graham Ryding said in the note. "This seems reasonable to us given that technically Martin Reid was not the firm's CEO during the period under focus by the OSC (albeit he was the president)."
TD Securities has a hold rating on Home Capital shares.