Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, June 18, 1994 TAG: 9407140016
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: A8 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: SANDRA BROWN KELLY STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Curtis A. Younts Jr. was removed at a special meeting of the board Wednesday, company officials confirmed Friday. Also, John K. Stuth of Green Bay, Wis., a member of the Littlefield board since August 1991, was named to replace Younts. Stuth has been president and chief executive officer since April.
Younts remains on the board, although a Littlefield spokesman said Younts' holdings "aren't significant."
The board also voted to hold a shareholders meeting as soon as possible. The publicly traded company, with some 900 stockholders and about $22 million in annual sales, has not held its 1993 annual meeting. The company has been under investigation by the Securities and Exchange Commission for alleged manipulation of stock. The American Stock Exchange stopped trading it in April for a month. On Friday, Littlefield stock closed at $5 a share, down 37.5 cents.
Littlefield, Adams has enjoyed a public profile disproportionate to its size since Younts bought controlling interest in 1991, when the company's headquarters was in Roanoke. He moved the company to San Antonio, close to Rogers, Texas, where he operates a 4,000-acre cattle ranch.
Younts subsequently announced several new ventures for the company, including a medical subsidiary that won a contract to supply wheelchair cushions to the Veterans Affairs Department. Younts, in public statements, valued the VA contract at $40 million, although the federal agency said it was worth $87,500 over more than three years.
A company spokesman said Friday that sales from the medical company have been minimal.
Younts' announcements stimulated the stock, however, and it rose from 50 cents a share in 1991 to $30 last July.
The corporate machinations appeared to have little effect on operations at Collegiate Pacific or at Littlefield's Sports Imprint Inc. in Dayton, Ohio. Sports Imprint, which produces clothing under the Fun Wear brand and has a Harley Davidson-logo line, employs 100, the company said. Collegiate Pacific, which has licenses to print shirts with logos from National Football League and Warner Bros./Looney Tunes, has about 50 workers.
Stuth said the leadership changes should have a "positive effect" on the companies because Littlefield is going to focus on its core businesses.
"We've been working toward increasing operations at Collegiate, and this move is going to continue that growth," he said.
by CNB