07-12-02
RTO Online
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Factoids |
| Rent Way founded by William Morgenstern in
1981 |
|
Latest 10Q, May 14 2002 |
William Morgenstern, CEO
Began his rent to own career in 1979 as a Rent-A-Center store manager in Ft.
Worth, Texas. |
William A. McDonnell, VP, CFO
Prior to coming to Rent Way, McDonnell was a director in the Global
Distribution Group for the Bank of Montreal. |
Ron DeMoss, VP and General Counsel
Began rent to own career in 1990 as a corporate counsel for Rent-A-Center.
Involved in the enactment of rental-purchase legislation in 11 states.
Chairman of APRO's Government Relations Committee spearheading HR1701 |
John A. Lombardi VP, Corporate Controller
and Chief Accounting Officer
Former EVP & CFO of Northstar Health Services and specialty consulting
services of Arthur Andersen LLP |
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Recent Rent Way Stories |
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Rent Way Q2 Quotes and Factoids |
| Rent Way Sets New 52 Week High |
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Rent Way Q2 2002 Conference Call Summary |
U.S. District Court Judge Sean P. McLaughlin ruled Thursday to dismiss Rent
Way's request to have the civil case, accusing Rent Ways top officers of
accounting fraud, thrown out. Judge McLaughlin stated that the allegations are
strong enough to deny Rent Way's request to dismiss the case.
William Morgenstern
CEO, Rent Way
"While I am disappointed in the court's
ruling, I recognize that in reviewing a
motion to dismiss, the court is required to accept all allegations in the
complaint.
I have no doubt that the truth will ultimately prevail - specifically, that as
soon as I learned about the accounting problems at RentWay, I publicly disclosed
them and
went to work to correct them. Meanwhile, we will continue our work at RentWay
to return it to profitability and to move the company forward"
Cramer Rosenthal McGlynn, a financial services firm and lead plaintiff in the
civil suit, touts this dismissal as a major development. In reality, motions to
dismiss are always filed, and routinely denied, in nearly every civil suit in
every court in the nation. These denials are not an indicator of future
developments. They are simply a finding by the Judge that the case should move
on to the next step. Some insiders believe that, in a pre-Enron universe, this
case may not have seen the inside of a courtroom.
Cramer Rosenthal McGlynn, claims it purchased more than 433,000 shares of
Rent-Way stock in the months preceding Rent Way's announcement of 'accounting
irregularities'. The firms final buy came just two weeks before the announcement
that sent RWY stock plummeting from $23.44 to $5 per share overnight. The stock
bottomed out at $2.31 in December 2000.
After a massive cost cutting campaign and a complete business model makeover,
CEO William Morgenstern and the Rent Way team began the recovery process. Their
efforts may be paying off. The company has recently gained favor with investors,
and is currently trading at $10.05, up 63% since January.
Rent Way stock dropped only 4% on the news of the court case moving forward,
signaling that the decision was no surprise to most investors, and that
potential 'bad news' is already factored in the stock price.
In the meantime, Thousands of Rent Way employees in 42 States keep on renting,
collecting, and growing...gloriously unaffected by the controversy.
end
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