COMPANY GETS NEW CFO CALIFORNIA AMPLIFIER TARGETS WOES.

Byline: Evan Pondel Staff Writer

CAMARILLO - California Amplifier Inc. named Richard Vitelle as chief financial officer Tuesday amid efforts to start anew following myriad lawsuits over bookkeeping improprieties.

Vitelle succeeds Michael Ferron, who resigned shortly after the company resumed trading on the Nasdaq Stock Market coming off a nine-week hold.

The 47-year-old previously served as vice president, chief financial officer and corporate secretary at Thousand Oaks-based SMTEK International Inc.

``Vitelle brings a lot of experience in electronics manufacturing ... and he'll be a nice fit for our team,'' said Greg Dare, a spokesman for California Amplifier. ``There will be a lot of expectations.''

The company ran into a morass of litigation after an audit found the controller had reduced expenses through improper adjustments and irregularities involving the consolidation of its Hong Kong procurement subsidiary.

On March 30, the controller had resigned after revealing that he overstated fiscal 2000 earnings by as much as $2.2 million.

As a result, the company had to restate earnings from Feb. 26, 2000, through three periods of fiscal 2001 ending Nov. 25.

``We received a lot of pressure as to why the stock was frozen for such a long time, but we wanted to make sure things were right and we wanted a clean slate,'' Dare said.

Though Ferron had nothing to do with the manipulation of the company's financials, Dare said he resigned because it was in the best interest of California Amplifier's future.

``He (Ferron) felt it would be good for the company if they made a fresh start ... regardless of whether or not he had anything to do with it,'' Dare said. ``And it was a black hat he had to be wearing.''

While the company still has litigation to contend with, Rich Valera, an analyst with Needham & Co. said California Amplifier can only benefit from a new chief financial officer in place.

``It could only be a good thing and this guy seems to have hopes to clean things up,'' Valera said.

Despite the company's legal misfortunes, California Amplifier remains a significant force as a manufacturer of microwave telecommunications equipment, Valera said.

``Within their sector, they are strong even though the fixed wireless area is very weak,'' he said.

In the company's first quarter, net income was $71,000, or a penny a share, compared with net income of $1.5 million, or 12 cents a diluted share for the same period a year ago.

Quarterly sales were $22.1 million, versus $31.9 million a year earlier.

Regardless of lackluster quarterly results, ``in the industry we're one of the few companies with positive cash flow and relatively small debt,'' Dare said.

The company's stock has been virtually stagnant since news of the controller's misdoings surfaced.

Valera said while many of the shareholders are filing lawsuits claiming they may have lost money due to misleading earnings, it's difficult to prove anything considering the stock hasn't fluctuated.