CPI Card Group CFO Departs, Company Appoints Interim Successor
CPI Card Group disclosed last week that Chief Financial Officer Jeffrey Hochstadt departed on February 13, and the company appointed Terra Grantham as interim CFO. Hochstadt will serve as an advisor until the end of June. The company plans to release fourth-quarter and full-year earnings on March 5.
Payment card and technology company CPI Card Group disclosed last week that its Chief Financial Officer, Jeffrey Hochstadt, agreed to step down from the role on February 13, with the departure timing coinciding with the eve of the company's planned release of its fourth-quarter earnings.
To fill the CFO vacancy, CPI appointed Terra Grantham, currently Senior Vice President of Corporate Strategy and Growth, as interim successor. According to a company filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on February 17, Grantham previously served as Senior Vice President of Financial Planning and Analysis and Strategy and also oversaw treasury functions. Hochstadt will remain in an advisory role until the end of June.
CPI, headquartered in Littleton, Colorado, announced in a press release last Friday (February 19) that it plans to release its fourth-quarter and full-year financial results on March 5.
CPI, led by CEO John Lowe and employing approximately 1,500 people, provides credit cards, debit cards, prepaid cards, and digital payment software to card-issuing financial institutions, fintech companies, prepaid card program managers, and card processors. CPI's products include cards made from metal and recycled materials and offers contactless cards using near-field communication technology.
Last year, CPI opened a new payment card manufacturing facility in Fort Wayne, Indiana, replacing its existing production facility of the same type in the city.
According to the press release, the company's net income for 2024 was approximately $20 million, with annual revenue of $480.6 million. In comparison, based on its most recent annual SEC filing, net income for 2023 was nearly $24 million, with revenue of $444.5 million, with both profit and revenue lower than 2024 levels.
Over the past year, the company's stock price has fallen by approximately 60%.
This CFO change comes just months after the company announced an ownership restructuring. In December, CPI announced that its major shareholder, investment firm Parallel49 Equity, would sell a portion of its stake to smaller investor Tricor Pacific Capital and company Chairman Sanford 'Sandy' Riley. According to the press release at the time, Parallel49 planned to sell 1.9 million shares to Tricor and 200,000 shares to Riley. Riley joined the board in May 2023.
Parallel49 invested in CPI in 2007 and held a 60% stake after CPI's initial public offering in 2015. According to the press release, following the completion of the transaction, Parallel49 is expected to still hold 2.7 million shares, representing approximately 24% of the stake, down from the previous 4.8 million shares (42% of the stake).
"We believe this transaction will support our shareholders, as the share purchases by these committed investors help provide clearer transparency into our long-term ownership structure," Lowe said at the time of the stock sale.