THE LONG ROAD BACK FOR FCA
William Popejoy, chairman and chief executive of Financial Corporation of America, is hurt. He moves gingerly about his office on feet that were severely bruised in a recent fall from a ladder while cleaning leaves out of the rain gutters of his Newport Beach, California, home. At 48 years of age, he is lean and athletic, not used to hobbling. "I'll be back on the tennis courts soon enough," he says, sipping on a Diet Pepsi. "I don't like being out of action."
Popejoy presides over a financial institution that is also bruised and hobbling. FCA is the holding company for American Savings and Loan, the nation's largest thrift with $27.4 billion in assets at the end of last year. That was $5 billion less than a year earlier, and the total could shrink by another $5 billion this year. "Being the largest savings and loan in the nation doesn't mean much to us these days," says Popejoy. "Rebuilding our capital, earnings and profitability is what we're concentrating on."
Profitability is a natural target. FCA posted a loss of $590.5 million in 1984, one or the largest deficits ever reported by a US financial institution.