Shares of Bank of the Ozarks Inc. of Little Rock fell more than 12 percent on Friday after a key executive announced his resignation.
The publicly traded bank announced in a regulatory filing that Dan Thomas, vice chairman, chief lending officer and president of the company’s Real Estate Specialties Group, resigned Thursday.
“I have enjoyed being a part of a commercial lending team that has closed over $25B in financings since its inception,” Thomas said in a letter to George Gleason, chairman of the board and CEO. “While the volume is nice, I am more proud of the fact that the portfolio has been built utilizing incredible discipline (including the utilization of very low leverage with best in class sponsorship). In addition, the team is very talented and experienced.”
In the regulatory filing, Bank of the Ozarks said it “appreciates Mr. Thomas’ hard work and dedication throughout his 14 years of service.” It said Thomas’ duties have been reassigned, and that it doesn’t expect Thomas’ resignation to “have a material impact on Real Estate Specialties Group’s long term prospects.”
Shares of the company (Nasdaq: OZRK) closed Friday at $41.74, down 12.3 percent.
A Reuters report on the resignation said investors fleeing the stock “worried the move could signal regulatory problems or credit problems or that Thomas could be leaving for a competitor.” Still others told the new agency that the stock decline was “a buying opportunity that ‘should reward shareholders once the dust settles.'”
Thomas, 53, received 2016 total compensation of $4.7 million. That reflected a one-year gain of 13 percent.
Thomas had been vice chairman since 2013, president of RESG since 2005 and was appointed as the chief lending officer of the bank in 2012. He joined the company in 2003.
Before working at Bank of the Ozarks, Thomas worked for various private commercial real estate management and development firms and an international law firm.
The company’s Real Estate Specialties Group opened in Dallas in 2003 and since added offices across the country. It focuses on the origination and servicing of loans collateralized by commercial real estate.
Bank of the Ozarks did not immediately return calls for comment.
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