Winners and losers
421 words
1 June 2009
The Miami Herald
F1BM
18
English
(c) Copyright 2009, The Miami Herald. All Rights Reserved.
In the past few years we've been tracking the best and worst performers, the top performers have always registered shareholder returns in the triple digits -- and in some cases, quadruple digits.
In 2008, however, only one company managed to crack the triple-digit threshold. That honor goes to eLandia, a Coral Gables-based information-technology provider operating primarily in Latin America.
The company's largest shareholder had been the Antiguan bank Stanford International Bank, run by Texas billionaire R. Allen Stanford. He is accused by the Securities and Exchange Commission of running a ''massive Ponzi scheme'' at the bank, which now is being liquidated. Since that news in February, eLandia's stock has given back most gains made last year and is once again a penny stock.
Only six of the 70 companies tracked by The Miami Herald produced a positive shareholder return in 2008. After eLandia, with a 177.8 percent return, the next closest was MasTec, the Coral Gables specialty contractor led by Jose Ramon Mas, which had a shareholder return of 13.9 percent.
Not surprisingly, there was no shortage of dismal performances last year. Thirty companies lost at least half their value in fiscal 2008.
Fort Lauderdale's Woodbridge Holdings, formerly the home builder Levitt Corp., made the worst performers' list for the second straight year. Woodbridge, led by banker Alan B. Levan, registered a -94.5 percent shareholder return in 2008, on the heels of a -77.8 percent return in 2007. Only Spanish Broadcasting System, headed by Raúl Alarcón Jr., was worse in 2008.
BEST RETURNS
CHIEF EXECUTIVE COMPANY TOTAL SHAREHOLDER COMPENSATION RETURN
Peter Pizarro* eLandia $2,767,788 177.8% Jose Ramon Mas MasTec $1,328,515 13.9% Albert H. Nahmad Watsco $1,154,396 8.9% Kevin D. Clark** Ivax Diagnostics $414,711 6.1% Michael W. Katz Perfumania Holdings $325,000 4.6%
WORST RETURNS
Raúl Alarcón Jr. Spanish Broadcasting System $1,380,796 -94.8% Alan B. Levan Woodbridge Holdings $642,718 -94.5% W. Bennett Collett Florida Gaming $804,983 -90.5% Larry Ellis*** Point Blank Solutions $1,040,000 -87.1% Yuejian Wang China Direct $37,000 -83.5%
* Pizarro became president in March 2008 and CEO in May 2008.
** Clark served as acting CEO for most of 2008. Two others served as CEO during 2008.
*** Ellis was removed by Point Blank Solutions' board in April 2009.
Shareholder return is based on each company's 2008 fiscal year and is taken from Bloomberg.
