CHARLOTTE – Tree.com Inc. (TREE) on Thursday reported first-quarter earnings of $19 million and minutes later disclosed a shuffling of its management, including a new chief financial officer.
The shuffling of management roles reflects the fact the company “has organized the business around three key divisions: the core LendingTree marketplaces, the QuoteWizard insurance business, and LendingTree Next,” the company announced.
The changes as explained by the firm:
- Neil Salvage will continue to run core LendingTree marketplaces as President, LendingTree Marketplace. Salvage will focus on deepening existing partnerships within LendingTree’s marketplaces while continuing to scale and innovate on both partner and consumer experiences related to these businesses.
- Scott Peyree will continue to run the insurance business and will now report to Chairman and CEO, Doug Lebda as President, Insurance. Peyree will continue to focus on expanding the Company’s presence in the insurance industry.
- JD Moriarty, currently CFO, will move to an operating role, as President of LendingTree Next. The Next division will lead the next evolution of the company with a number of growth initiatives that build off of our marketplace assets.
- Trent Ziegler has been named as LendingTree’s new Chief Financial Officer, a natural and well-deserved progression from his prior role as Vice President, Investor Relations and Treasury.
“Over the last year, LendingTree has implemented a more refined, strategic planning process that focuses on the implementation and execution of key initiatives for this year and beyond, while continuing to scale and innovate our core marketplace businesses,” said Chairman and CEO Doug Lebda in a statement. “We’ve identified three distinct areas in need of dedicated focus, management, and resources.”
On a per-share basis, the Charlotte-based company said it had net income of $1.35. Earnings, adjusted for non-recurring gains, were 18 cents per share.
The results exceeded Wall Street expectations. The average estimate of five analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research was for a loss of 21 cents per share.
The mortgage lending service provider posted revenue of $272.8 million in the period, which also beat Street forecasts. Five analysts surveyed by Zacks expected $265.8 million.
Tree.com shares have decreased 10% since the beginning of the year. The stock has risen 10% in the last 12 months.
