EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Compiled by Mike Mason
TOP STORIES
Foothill Ranch-based apparel retailer The Wet Seal Inc. fired Chief Executive Kathy Bronstein after the company warned that it could post a fourth-quarter loss of $5.9 million and January same-store sales fell 25.1% vs. a year earlier, worse than a forecasted 13.2% decline; Bronstein, who joined Wet Seal in 1985 as a merchandise manager and took over as chief in 1992, will be replaced on an interim basis by Chairman Irv Teitelbaum, a Canad-ian who founded a lingerie chain and owns 31% of Wet Seal shares, which fell 12% to 7.43 on the news … Meanwhile, Anaheim-based retailer Pacific Sunwear of California Inc. said its January same-store sales jumped 20% vs. a year earlier, beating the forecast for a 7.7% gain.
GOVERNMENT
The city of Anaheim, blaming the state budget crisis, killed plans for a $19 million, 80,000-square-foot library that was to be in the heart of a $65 million downtown redevelopment project; as part of Gov. Davis’ budget proposal, some $9.9 million in city property taxes possibly pegged for the library might be redirected to state coffers.
HEALTHCARE
Hollywood producer Mike Medavoy and wife Irena are suing a Beverly Hills dermatologist and Irvine-based Allergan Inc., alleging that three Botox injections to treat Irena’s migraines have left her with a number of debilitating ailments; Allergan said it will “vigorously defend” itself against the charges … San Clemente-based BioLase Technology Inc. won Food and Drug Administration approval for use of its Waterlase medical device for root canal surgery … UCI Medical Center in Orange will take over its blood collection operation after Woodland Hills-based HemaCare Corp., which had been running the blood unit for three years, said it was unprofitable … Medical device makers reporting fourth-quarter earnings included Irvine-based Edwards Lifesciences Corp. and San Clemente-based ICU Medical Inc.; Edwards said its operating profit rose 10.7% to $31 million in the quarter on a 26.9% jump in sales to $203.1 million vs. a year ago; the maker of cardiovascular disease treatment devices also named director Corinne H. Lyle as chief financial officer, replacing Bruce J. Bentcover who left to spend more time with his family; ICU Medical said its operating profit jumped 32.6% to $9.2 million vs. a year ago on a 15.5% rise in sales to $24.1 million, though the company said sales included a $3.2 million one-time licensing payment sending shares of ICU 22% lower to 28.35.
REAL ESTATE
Irvine-based Standard Pacific Corp. said its fourth-quarter operating profit jumped 67% to 52.3 million on a 57.3% rise in homebuilding revenue to $677.9 million; Standard Pacific said its results were boosted by acquisitions in Florida and the Carolinas and, citing the strong housing market, raised its 2003 profit guidance by as much as 20%.
TECHNOLOGY
Newport Beach-based Conexant Systems Inc. sold its Westborough, Mass.-based NetPlane Systems Inc. unit to Motorola Inc. for an undisclosed amount; Conexant bought the networking software maker in 2000 for $106 million; meanwhile, Conexant said South Korea’s Samsung Electronics Co. would use its chips in the set-top boxes Samsung makes for a South Korean satellite network … Irvine-based Broadcom Corp. named John E. Major, former chairman and chief executive of San Diego-based Novatel Wireless Inc., to its board … Bitfone Corp., a Laguna Niguel-based wireless phone software startup, said it opened an office in South Korea to be closer to its customers … Santa Ana-based SimpleTech Inc. said it had a fourth-quarter operating loss of $961,000 vs. a profit of $1.7 million a year earlier on a 28.6% rise in sales to $45.8 million; SimpleTech said it expects first-quarter sales to fall sequentially to $38 million to $42 million on softening seasonal demand and a decline in memory products pricing.
WHAT ELSE IS NEWS
Philadelphia-based law firm Morgan Lewis & Bockius LLP said it will take over Brobeck, Phleger & Harrison’ offices in Irvine, Palo Alto and San Francisco; Morgan Lewis said it is offering partnerships to more than 50 lawyers at San Francisco-based Brobeck, which is dissolving after the technology focused firm failed to strike a deal to fold into Morgan Lewis … Porsche Design, which creates pens, watches, sunglasses and exteriors for electronics, said it plans to move its headquarters to Orange County from Austria, by midsummer; the company, which is looking for office space in Newport Beach or South County for some 30 workers, also said it also plans to move its Hawthorne-based North American distribution operations to the county … Aliso Viejo-based Fluor Corp. won a $200 million contract naming it construction manager on the Orange County Performing Arts Center expansion, including the construction of the Renee and Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall and Samueli Theater … Irvine-based O’Neill Clothing, a licensee of Santa Cruz-based O’Neill Inc., said it will sponsor the U.S. Open of Surfing in Huntington Beach in a bid to more aggressively compete with big surf apparel makers such as Huntington Beach-based Quiksilver Inc. and Irvine-based Billabong USA … Quiksilver said it plans to ask shareholders to OK lifting the number of authorized common shares to 85 million from 45 million; Quiksilver, which has 27.1 million shares currently outstanding, said it has no immediate plans to issue new shares … Foothill Ranch-based Oakley Inc. said it will open 20 Iacon sunglasses stores this year; Oakley’s move is expected to heat up its competition with Luxottica Group SPA, which owns the Sunglass Hut retail chain.
ECONOMIC INDICATORS
Up: The forecast for Orange County apartment rent in the next 20 months, expected to rise 8%, according to the University of Southern California’s Lusk Center for Real Estate.
Mixed: OC’s luxury home market last year, with the number of homes sold for more than $1 million jumping 57% to 1,872, but the price per square foot dropping 7% to $479 per square foot, according to DataQuick Information Systems.
Interpore Cross Boosts U.S., Overseas Team
Irvine-based Interpore Cross International, a maker of medical devices for spinal surgery, boosted its domestic and overseas sales and marketing team.
Interpore named Rory J.R. Gleadhill, 49, marketing chief. It also named a division manager for the Pacific/Far East region, a technical specialist for Europe and two U.S. sales division managers.
The move comes a week after the company got a favorable settlement in its patent dispute with a unit of Johnson & Johnson, which will pay Interpore $15 million plus future royalties on any polyaxial screw device used in U.S. spinal implants.
Interpore is set to release its fourth-quarter earnings results on Tuesday.
