What's Behind Marlin's Sr. VP/CFO Resignation? by Christopher Menkin There is more to the story, but we don't have it. Maybe readers can tell us more. This is what we know: Securities Exchange Commission (SEC) December 13, 2005 for the event date of 3/31/05. “Since our founding in 1997, we have grown to $580.6 million in total assets at March 31, 2005. Our assets are substantially comprised of our net investment in leases which totaled $510.7 million at March 31, 2005. Our lease portfolio grew approximately 16.6% in the past twelve months. Personnel costs represent our most significant overhead expense and we have added to our staffing levels to both support and grow our lease portfolio. Since inception, we have also added three regional sales offices to help us penetrate certain targeted markets, with our most recent office opening in Chicago, Illinois in the first quarter of 2004. Growing the lease portfolio while maintaining asset quality remains the primary focus of management. We expect our on-going investment in our sales teams and regional offices to drive continued growth in our lease portfolio. “We generally reach our lessees through a network of independent equipment dealers and lease brokers. The number of dealers and brokers we conduct business with depends primarily on the number of sales account executives we have. Accordingly, key growth indicators management evaluates regularly are sales account executive staffing levels and the activity of our origination sources, which are shown below. (charge off ratio was 1.98%) “Table of Contents Three Months Ended As of or For the Years Ended December 31, March 31, Number of sales account executives Number of originating sources (1) (1) Monthly average of origination sources generating lease volume. “..For the quarter March 31, 2005, our net credit losses were 1.98% of our average net investment in leases. We establish reserves for credit losses which requires us to estimate expected losses. “..Approximately 68% of our lease portfolio amortizes over the term to a $1 residual value. “..Since our founding, we have funded our business through a combination of variable rate borrowings and fix rate asset securitization transactions...as of March 31,2005, $369.6 million or 83% of our borrowings were fixed rate term not securitizations.” 12/13/05 10-Q/A (SEC's EDGAR System) for event date:3/31/2005” Full report with all financial information is here, 56 pages: http://leasingnews.org/PDF/Marlin_10-Q_A.PDF December 14, 2005 SEC filing finds the number three man on the senior management of "Marlin Leasing," a subsidiary of Marlin Business Services Corp. behind Chairman Daniel P. Dyer and President Gary R. Shivers, Bruce E. Sickel notification of his “resignation,” effective March 3, 2006. A press release was issued, and is part of the filings with the Security Exchange Commission. Not mentioned was the $50,000 “stay” until March 3, 2006, employment to this date, followed by six month severance, plus some other “odds and ends.” Most revealing, the bottom of the press release about the “resignation”: SOURCE Marlin Business Services Corp. -0- 12/14/2005 /CONTACT: George Pelose, General Counsel of Marlin Business Services Corp. , +1-888-479-9111 X4142/ In receiving many press releases over the years, rarely are they from the corporate attorney, or the party to contact, the corporate attorney. Mr. Pelose, nor his assistant, nor any executive or other contacts at Marlin Business Services returned any of the telephone made by Leasing News. Here is the Public Relations story: ### Press Release ####### Marlin Business Services Corp. CFO to Resign MOUNT LAUREL, N.J., Dec. 14 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Marlin Business Services Corp. (Nasdaq: MRLN), a nationwide provider of equipment leasing solutions, announced today that Bruce E. Sickel is resigning his employment with the Company effective March 3, 2006 to pursue other interests. Mr. Sickel will continue to serve as the Company's Chief Financial Officer until the earlier of March 3, 2006 or the date his successor is named. The Company has commenced a search for Mr. Sickel's replacement. "Bruce has made valuable contributions to Marlin since joining us in 2003," said Daniel P. Dyer, Chairman and CEO of Marlin Business Services Corp. "We wish him well in his future endeavors." About Marlin Business Services Corp. Marlin Business Services Corp. is a nationwide provider of equipment leasing solutions primarily to small businesses. The Company's principal operating subsidiary, Marlin Leasing Corporation, finances over 60 equipment categories in a segment of the market generally referred to as "small-ticket” leasing (i.e. transactions less than $250,000). The Company was founded in 1997 and completed its initial public offering of common stock November 12, 2003. In addition to Mount Laurel, NJ, Marlin also has regional offices in or near Atlanta, Chicago, Denver and Philadelphia. For more information, visit http://www.marlincorp.com or call toll free at (888) 479-9111. SOURCE Marlin Business Services Corp. -0- 12/14/2005 /CONTACT: George Pelose, General Counsel of Marlin Business Services Corp. , +1-888-479-9111 X4142/ /Web site: http://www.marlincorp.com / ### Press Release ##### The web site ( www.marlincorp.com ) notes: “Bruce E. Sickel joined us in September 2003 as Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer. Prior to that, from 1990 to 2003, Mr. Sickel was a founder of Premier Bancorp, a Pennsylvania financial holding company of Premier Bank, where he served as Chief Financial Officer and Director from its inception through the sale of the company in August 2003. From 1987 to 1990, Mr. Sickel was Senior Vice President and Controller of Horizon Financial F.A., a $2.5 billion diversified thrift institution. From 1982 to 1987, Mr. Sickel worked in the audit department of Peat, Marwick, Mitchell & Co. (now KPMG LLP), rising to the level of audit manager. Mr. Sickel received his undergraduate degree in finance and accounting from Juniata College and is a Certified Public Accountant and Chartered Financial Analyst.” Here is the filing with the SEC on the matter, with more details than presented in this article: http://leasingnews.org/PDF/Marlin_8-K2.pdf The same date, December 14, 2005, there is a filing for the sale of 31,500 shares held by Daniel P. Dyer, Chief Executive Officer of Marlin Business Services Corporation (MRLN), from reportedly an “... adopted a pre-arranged stock trading plan to exercise a portion of his company stock options and sell the related shares over time as part of his individual long-term strategy for asset diversification and liquidity.” http://leasingnews.org/PDF/Marlin_8-K.pdf The shares being sold by Dyer under the plan represent approximately 8% of the MRLN shares he beneficially owns as of December 14, 2005. The end of year report showed there were 11,505,000 shares. Dyer on April 21,2005 sold 3,075 shares at $17.885 or $54,996. He controls 248,253 shares, the form stated. The 31,500 shares at December 15 prices of $21.87 would result in $688,905. Whether he needed the money to buy Christmas presents or any coincidence to the resignation of Sickel is not known, as no party at Marlin Leasing returned any telephone calls. Stock information here: http://leasingnews.org/PDF/Marlin_corp_profile.PDF Any new information, corrections or additions are welcome. Our telephone number is 408-374-3848,
|
 |
| 
