A.C. Zucaro, the new chief executive officer of Old Republic
International Corp., is an amateur cabinetmaker. He especially appreciates the antique furniture that fills the walnut-paneled executive offices of the Chicago-based insurance holding company.
The setting is in line with Old Republic`s somewhat stodgy reputation:
Its stock trading symbol in the over-the-counter market is OLDR and its emblem is the Revolutionary War minuteman.
But Zucaro wants investors and Wall Street analysts to pay more attention to the traditionally low-profile company. Last week Old Republic applied to have its stock listed on the New York Stock Exchange, it recently hired a public relations firm and its officials have begun making the rounds of analysts` meetings.
”We`ve always been a low visibility company,” said Zucaro. But ”the company has grown. We`ve had a number of mergers and our shareholder base has expanded.
More Top Picks Storage
”We still view ourselves as a very conservative institution. We have no desire to change that. But it doesn`t mean we have to hide our light under a basket,” he said.
Zucaro, 51, an accountant by training, has been Old Republic`s president since 1981 and retains that title. He succeeds William R. Stover, 67, Old Republic`s CEO for the last 14 years, who remains the company`s chairman.
Old Republic officials hope their efforts will improve the lackluster record of the company`s stock, which closed Friday at $24.25 a share, up 25 cents.
Investors have apparently been turned off by the company`s bumpy performance over the last few years. Old Republic was hit with a pretax charge of $100 million in the mid-1980s because of mortgage-guaranty claims related to the failure of East Coast real estate syndicator Equity Programs Investment Corp.; in 1988, the company posted sharply lower profits because of a $60 million addition to reserves for future title-insurance claims.
But Zucaro contends the unpleasant surprises are behind Old Republic, and the company expects to fare well when rates for commercial property and casualty insurance turn up after a four-year slump.