Unifi terminated Brian Parke as the chairman, president and chief
executive officer of the company, effective immediately. Parke had been
president of the company since 1999; CEO since 2000.
Unifi's board appointed Stephen Wener as the company's new chairman and
“acting” CEO. Wener had served as the president and CEO of Dillon Yarn
Corporation since 1980. The Dillon polyester and nylon texturing
operations were purchased by Unifi in January 2007. The board also said
Parke, R. Wiley Bourne, Charles Carter, Sue Cole, J.B. Davis, and
Donald Orr resigned as members of the company's Board of Directors,
effective immediately.
Unifi also announced plans to close its Kinston, N.C. facility,
affecting approximately 260 employees. The facility produces partially
orientated yarn for internal consumption and third party sales.
Unifi's Q407 loss widened to $72.3 million, or $1.19 per share, from a
prior-year loss of $5.4 million, or 10 cents per share. The latest
quarter included a pre-tax impairment charge of $84.7 million to adjust
the carrying value of the company's ownership interest in Parkdale
America, LLC, as well as $4.3 million in pre-tax bad debt charges.
Sales rose to $185.3 million from $183.2 million.
