Dr. David Tillman has resigned as president and CEO of the Motion Picture and Television Fund and the former president of Panavision has been named as an interim successor.

Tillman has headed the fund, which provides health care and other services for those in the entertainment industry, for 10 years. Recent years have been financially difficult for the fund resulting in the closure of the hospital and long term care facility in Woodland Hills.

In a prepared statement Tillman said he was leaving because it was in the best interests for him and the fund.

Bob Beitcher was picked as the interim chief executive while a search takes place for a permanent successor.

Beitcher was president of camera and lens developer Panavision for six years until leaving the company in April 2009. Beitcher serves on the MPTF board of trustees.

“I am absolutely committed to doing everything I can to enhance the Fund’s ability to meet the growing need for health care and social services now and in the future, and to continuing the charitable mission of the Fund,” Beitcher said. With the support of its outstanding staff, the Fund has an exciting opportunity to address the growing needs of our industry members in innovative and progressive ways.”

Falling sales contributed to Easton-Bell Sports Inc. posting a net loss for the 2009 fiscal year.

The Van Nuys-bases sporting goods manufacturer and distributor had a net loss of $4.1 million on revenues of $716.3 million for the year ending Jan. 2. For the previous fiscal year, the company reported net income of $13.4 million on revenues of $775.5 million.

For the year both team sports and action sports sales decreased.

In the fourth quarter, there were lower sales of cycling helmets and cycling components in the action sports category. Tight budgets at the high school level contributed to lower sales of football equipment in the team sports category.

During the first quarter of 2010 most employers will keep staff levels steady in the Los Angeles, Long Beach and Santa Ana areas, according to a new report.

The quarterly survey conducted by the employment services company Manpower Inc. indicated 74 percent of businesses interviewed expect to maintain their current staff levels from January to March of next year.

Twelve percent of companies expect to reduce their payrolls, 9 percent plan to hire more employees and five percent of businesses were not certain of their hiring plans, according to The Manpower Employment Outlook Survey.

Metro Regional Director for Manpower, Inc, Lee Fossey, said area hiring levels appear to be slightly stronger than the previous quarter when 12 percent of companies interviewed intended to add employees but 17 percent of them planned to reduce staff levels.

“Employers have similar hiring intentions compared to one year ago, when 13 percent of companies surveyed planned to increase staff levels and 15 percent expected to cut payrolls,” he said.

For the coming quarter, Fossey said job prospects appear best in Wholesale & Retail Trade and Professional & business Services.

In the areas of Durable Goods Manufacturing, Transportation & Utilities, Education & health Services, Other Services and government, employers plan to reduce staffing levels, according to the report.

Companies in the field of construction are expected to hire.

Nationally, 12 percent of the more than 28,000 employers surveyed, expect to increase their staff levels during the January – March period, while 12 percent expect to reduce their payrolls.

Seventy-three percent expect no change in hiring, and 3 percent are undecided.

The next Manpower Employment Outlook Survey will be released on March 9, 2010 to report hiring expectations for the second quarter 2010.

The past month’s earnings picture in the Valleys presented a portrait of companies whose losses either continued or began to ease, and even showed a few flickers of light at the end of the tunnel as some companies returned to profitability by the close of the first quarter of the calendar year.

Among the improved was restaurant operator and franchisor DineEquity Inc., which narrowed its net loss in the fourth quarter when compared to the previous year.

The Glendale-based company, owner of the IHOP and Applebee’s brands, said a write down of Applebee’s intangible assets contributed to the quarterly results.

DineEquity reported a net loss of $48.2 million, or $2.84 per diluted share, on revenues of $355.2 million for the quarter ending Dec. 31. For the same period in 2008, the company had a net loss of $137.1 million, or $8.15 per diluted share, on revenues of $355.5 million.

Same store sales decreased for the quarter and fiscal year at both IHOP and Applebee’s, a reflection of fewer customers and lower average guest checks.

Meanwhile, K-Swiss Inc. narrowed its losses, as worldwide revenues for the fourth quarter of 2009 decreased 21.4 percent to $42 million compared with $53.5 million in the prior-year period.

Broken down by national and international performance, the company’s domestic revenues decreased 31.8 percent to $18.1 million in the fourth quarter, while international revenues decreased 11.2 percent to $23.9 million.

The fortunes of the region’s tech industry were typified by the performance of Vitesse Semiconductor Corp., which narrowed its net loss for the first quarter when compared to a year ago, a result of cost cutting measures, company officials said.

The Camarillo-based developer of high performance semiconductors reported a net loss of $33.9 million, or $0.10 per diluted share, on revenues of $41.7 million for the quarter ending Dec. 31. For the same period the previous year, Vitesse had a net loss of $190 million, or $0.84 per diluted share, on revenues of $49.8 million.

The first quarter results included a $21.6 million related to debt restructuring completed in October.

On the dot-com front, online marketing service provider ValueClick Inc. fell short of having its revenues meet guidance expectations for the fourth quarter.

Still, the Westlake Village-based firm showed marked improvement in the quarter when compared to a year ago with net income of $15.5 million, or $0.18 per diluted share, on revenues of $110.4 million. For the same period in 2008, the company had a net loss of $251.8 million, or $2.90 per diluted share, on revenues of $110 million.

The company had issued a guidance of revenues for the fourth quarter between $128 million and $138 million.

Those guidance figures, however, did not take into account the sale of the Web Clients business for $45 million, which was included as a discontinued operation for 2009.

media continued to stay in a holding pattern for the most part, with some segments proving to be noteworthy exceptions.

Case in point, television, which was a bright spot for The Walt Disney Co. in Q1.

In fact, cable and broadcasting networks were the only Disney business segments to show an improvement in revenues for the first quarter when compared to a year ago.

The Burbank-based entertainment and media conglomerate had flat growth in parks and resorts and filmed entertainment and a drop in revenues for consumer products and interactive media.

Overall, Disney reported a net income of $844 million, or $0.44 per diluted share, on revenues of $9.7 billion for the quarter ending Jan. 2. For the same period in 2008, the company had a net income of $851 million, or $0.45 per diluted share, on revenues of $9.6 billion.

Media networks revenues increased by 7 percent to $4.2 billion for the quarter on higher subscription rates and licensing fees. Consumer product revenues dropped by 3 percent to $746 million, while Interactive Media, which includes video games and online sites, fell by 29 percent to $221 million.

During the quarter the company incurred $66 million in restructuring charges related to severance and other costs; and $39 million in write-offs for abandoned film projects.

But for some niche-market media concerns, there were few if any bright spots. Net income dropped by 71 percent at Crown Media Holdings in the fourth quarter when compared with the previous year.

The Studio City-based owner and operator of the Hallmark Channel and the Hallmark Movie Channel had net income of $373,000, or $0.00 per diluted share, on revenues of $77.6 million for the quarter ending Dec. 31. For the same period in 2008, Crown reported net income of $1.3 million, or $0.01 per diluted share, on revenues of $75.2 million.

At the same time, DreamWorks Animation SKG Inc., played it cool, with no new feature film releases during the fourth quarter, 2009, the company’s most recent reporting period. The studio relied on DVD sales, cable sales, and television specials and series to drive its fourth quarter financial results.

The Glendale-based studio reported net income of $43.6 million or $0.50 per diluted share, on revenues of $194.2 million for the quarter ending Dec. 31. For the same period in 2008, the company had net income of $51.6 million, or $0.58 per diluted share, on revenues of $199.8 million.

Having released only one feature in 2009 – “Monsters vs. Aliens” – DreamWorks Animation is coming out of the gate much stronger in 2010 with an unprecedented three films, starting with “How to Train Your Dragon” in March, followed by the summer release of the latest installment of the “Shrek” franchise, and concluding with “Megamind” in November. All three films will be released in the 3D format.

On the opposite end of the spectrum, net losses widened for Image Entertainment Inc. in the third quarter as sales continued to drop for DVDs and Blu-ray discs. The company is currently wrapping up its fourth quarter for 2009.

A significant loss notwithstanding, Image’s digital distribution business was the one bright spot for the Chatsworth-based home-entertainment programming producer and distributor.

But the bigger story for Image Entertainment was that it faced financial difficulties the past year, but escaped possible bankruptcy after new ownership stepped in.

For the quarter ending Dec. 31, the company reported a net loss of $2.1 million, or $0.09 per diluted share, on revenues of $25.1 million. For the same period a year ago Image had a net loss of $304,000, or $0.01 per diluted share, on revenues of $39.2 million.

Digital distribution, however, showed positive growth for the third quarter with revenues of $1.3 million, an increase of 34.3 percent over the same period a year ago.

Camarillo-based Salem Communications is another media company whose\ most recent earnings statement revealed industry turbulence. Despite shedding money-losing properties, such as radio stations in Milwaukee, and its CCM magazine title, the conservative media company continued to post losses in 2009.

In fact, Salem posted a net loss of $1.6 million, or $0.07 per diluted share on revenues of $51 million for quarter ended Dec. 31, 2009. For the same period in 2008, the company had a net loss of $30.6 million, or $1.29 per diluted share, on revenues of $55 million.

Even solidly ‘brick-and-mortar’ companies saw losses continue during their most recent reporting periods.

PS Business Parks, Inc. reported net income of$9.9 million, or $0.40 per diluted share, on revenues of $67.7 million for the period ended Dec. 31, 2009.

This is compared to $9.5 million, or $0.46 per diluted share, on revenues of $71.0 million for the same period in 2008.

Aerospace suffered losses as well.

Monrovia-based aircraft and Energy systems manufacturer, AeroVironment, which has a facility in Simi Valley, reported a net income of $4.5 million, or $0.21 per diluted share, on revenues of $52.2 million for the third quarter ending Jan. 31.

That is a 24 percent decrease from the same period in 2008 when the company reported net income of $6 million, or $0.28 per diluted share, on revenues of $48.5 million.

Yet even with drops in revenue, some companies declared shareholder dividends.

The Ryland Group, Inc. said it would be doling out first-quarter dividends of three cents per share, payable April 30 to common stock shareholders of record as of April 15.

Headquartered in Calabasas, Ryland is one of the nation’s largest homebuilders and a mortgage-finance company.

Zenith National Insurance Corp., which has its headquarters in Woodland Hills, and which was recently purchased by a Canadian holding company, declared a regular quarterly cash dividend of fifty cents per share payable May 14 to stockholders of record at the close of business on April 30.

A prominent Conejo Valley resident and Ventura County real estate developer has donated $5 million for a new football stadium at California Lutheran University.

The $8 million facility to be named after donor William Rolland will have more than 3,000 seats, and includes locker rooms, coaching offices, meeting rooms, a press box, VIP lounge and a clock tower.

Rolland’s donation is the largest single gift in the history of the Thousand Oaks university.

“I’m so pleased to be able to contribute to the growth of CLU in this lasting way,” said Rolland. “This is one of the most exciting ventures I’ve ever undertaken.”

William Rolland Stadium will be located on the north campus adjacent to other new sports facilities. Construction begins this summer and will be completed in time for the 2011 football season

During a recent industrial real estate transaction in Van Nuys, the buyer and seller agreed to a sales price of $2.6 million. And the buyer was planning to obtain bank financing for the deal, according to George Stavaris of Grubb & Ellis, who represented the seller.

Only problem: The initial appraisal came in at $1.5 million. The seller wasn’t willing to budge that much, so the buyer couldn’t afford the property. And Stavaris claimed the appraiser came up with the number by simply taking 50 percent off the building’s market high.

“There was no rationale behind his appraisal,” said Stavaris, adding the 11,500 square foot space is located in a tight industrial market. Vacancy rates in Van Nuys are much lower than most markets nationally.

So a second appraisal was ordered, and the deal eventually closed for $2.4 million.

Stavaris and other local commercial real estate brokers said lenders and appraisers are missing the mark on property values in the Valley. Numbers are often based on broad brush strokes about the market, which is killing some transactions, stalling others and keeping prices down.

But appraisers and lenders said there’s no conspiracy. It’s difficult to find solid sales comps these days, because there have not been many sales in the down economy. Uncertainty about where vacancy and rental rates are headed also factor heavily into appraisals and how much banks are willing to lend.

“The truth is there’s been a tectonic shift in appraising, and these brokers are spoiled,” said Chuck Hershson, a hard money commercial real estate lender with Fidelity Mortgage Lenders in Santa Monica.

The sales comparison approach is all but gone in this market, and lenders are basing their valuations largely on the income approach,” he added. “Income is what pays all of the expenses of commercial real estate and shows yield for owners.”

When commercial real estate was booming, brokers and property owners got used to capitalization rates (a percentage number applied to future income to determine current value ) around four and five percent, said Hershson. Cap rates are now in the 7.5 to 8.5 percent range, which decreases property values.

When appraising the value of commercial real estate, you also have to take into account whether or not old leases are coming due. Because of today’s market conditions, property owners are likely going to have to decrease the rental rate and make other concessions when renewing the lease, said Hershson.

“Our loan to value ratio is 40 to 45 percent,” he said, adding many bank’s loan-to-value ratio is 50-65 percent, if they’re lending at all. “And all of my appraisers use a 10 cap rate. As lenders, we’re the ones who ultimately have liability for loans. And in today’s market you have to be careful. ”

Scott Romick of Lee & Associates, who specializes in office real estate, said one tenant and prospective owner/user recently agreed on a sales price with the property owner. But the appraisal came in 20 percent less than the agreed upon price.

“The comps were not that good, because there wasn’t much to choose from,” said Romick, adding the lender also considered the transaction an investment deal because it wasn’t owner occupied yet.