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To: RealMuLan who wrote (4141)	1/12/2005 6:09:04 PM
From: RealMuLan	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 6370

OfficeMax CFO quits as vendor probe expands 03:13 PM CST on Wednesday, January 12, 2005 Bloomberg News OfficeMax Inc., the No. 3 U.S. office- supplies chain, said its chief financial officer resigned after two months on the job and the company will delay the release of fourth-quarter and full-year results after expanding an accounting probe. The retailer's shares fell as much as 8.2 percent. Four workers were fired based on information from the investigation, which confirmed allegations by a vendor that some employees fabricated documentation for about $3.3 million in claims during the last two years, Itasca, Illinois-based OfficeMax said in a statement today. Brian Anderson's departure follows the resignation last week of retail division President Gary Peterson after OfficeMax posted lower holiday sales and cut its 2004 profit forecast. Anderson will be replaced on an interim basis by former CFO Theodore Crumley. OfficeMax said last month that it's investigating whether employees demanded promotional payments from vendors and falsified documents. "He needs to be replaced with someone who has a better handle on the situation," said Ivan Feinseth, an analyst at Matrix USA LLC in New York, who has a "strong buy" rating on the stock. "I think it's isolated to the vendor situation. We are pretty confident it's not a lot of issues." The investigation was broadened to review the way OfficeMax records rebates and other vendor payments, focusing on the proper timing for the recognition of those allowances. OfficeMax expects to complete the probe in the third week of February and to file its annual report with the Securities and Exchange Commission within the time prescribed by the SEC. Vendor Allowances OfficeMax spokesman Bill Bonner declined to identify the vendor or name the four fired employees. Anderson didn't immediately respond to a message left at his office. Vendor allowances are payments from suppliers for promotions, prime shelf space or damaged goods. They can be in the form of discounts or rebates, which often are linked to sales volume. Shares of OfficeMax, which trails Staples Inc. and Office Depot Inc. in sales, fell $1.73, or 5.7 percent, to $28.57 at 2:57 p.m. in New York Stock Exchange composite trading after earlier declining to $27.82. Before today, the stock had fallen 9 percent in the past year, compared with a 24 percent gain for Staples and Office Depot's 9.6 percent increase. Before joining OfficeMax, Anderson was senior vice president and CFO of Baxter International, the world's biggest maker of blood-disease therapies, which he joined as a vice president in 1991. He is a former audit partner at Deloitte & Touche LLP. Profit Outlook "We are disappointed that Brian is leaving after only two months of service," OfficeMax Chief Executive Chris Milliken said in the statement. "We regret that his commitment to our business was not strong enough to allow him to make a long-term contribution." OfficeMax said last month that profit in 2004 would be below its forecast of $180 million to $190 million and fourth-quarter retail sales would be "nearly flat" compared with a year earlier as it sold fewer office supplies than it expected during the holiday-shopping season. The former Boise Cascade Corp. bought OfficeMax in 2003 for about $1.06 billion and in October completed the sale of paper and timberland assets for $3.7 billion. In November, the company adopted the office-supplies retailer's name. Boise Cascade said in November that Crumley would retire when the transition was complete. OfficeMax said it will continue with its plan to repurchase as much as $815 million in stock after it reports its 2004 results. dallasnews.com