Downey Financial Corp.'s chief executive and president is resigning after just six months on the job, and its former CEO will succeed him.
The $14.7 billion-asset Newport Beach, Calif., thrift company said Thursday that Marangal "Marito" Domingo will step down Tuesday to "pursue other interests." Mr. Domingo, 43, took the positions in February, when Daniel D. Rosenthal resigned after five years.
Mr. Rosenthal, 51, kept a seat on the board and took over as president of DSL Service Co., Downey's real estate development unit. He will now assume the president and CEO posts again at the parent company for an "indefinite" period, Thomas E. Prince, the chief financial officer, said in an interview Friday.
Also, Mr. Rosenthal will be reappointed the president and CEO of Downey Savings and Loan Association.
Speaking on the condition of anonymity, one observer said the CEO post at Downey has been "a revolving chair" for years. The directors, under the direction of chairman and co-founder Maurice L. McAlister, 78, regularly ask the CEO to resign if they are not satisfied with the company's performance at that time, the source said.
Mr. Prince confirmed that Downey has had five different CEOs in 10 years.
Its second-quarter earnings rose 50%, to $27.8 million. However, the earnings would have been much higher if it had not lost $21.3 million from sales of investment securities, originally purchased as a partial economic hedge against anticipated declines in value of the company's mortgage servicing rights.
Downey's stock was trading at $54.19 late Friday, down 6 cents from Thursday's close.
