Temecula Valley Bancorp Inc. in California said Wednesday that Frank Basirico Jr. has been promoted to chief executive officer and that chief operating officer Martin E. Plourd has added the title of president.
The two succeed Stephen H. Wacknitz, whose "employment understanding was terminated," according to a Securities and Exchange Commission filing. Mr. Wacknitz had been chairman, president, and CEO of the $1.5 billion-asset company.
Temecula, which does business in parts of Southern California hard hit by the real estate bust, has been building its loan-loss reserves as nonperforming construction and development loans piled up.
At the end of the third quarter, nonperformers accounted for 6.35% of Temecula's total assets, and 64% of the nonperforming loans were related to construction. The company reported a $3.6 million loss for the quarter after provisioning $7.6 million.
Mr. Basirico joined Temecula in 2006 as chief administration officer and a senior vice president; he has more than 30 years of banking experience.
Mr. Plourd, with 27 years of banking experience, joined the company in 2005 as senior executive vice president and chief operating officer. Both have also joined the company's board of directors. Temecula's shares closed at $82 cents Wednesday, down 3 cents. They have lost 85% of their value since Oct. 1.
