Pacesetter Homes Chief Will Retire

NEWPORT BEACH —  Landon M. Exley, president and chief executive of Pacesetter Homes since 1985, will retire June 15, the company announced Tuesday.

His duties will be taken over by John W. Klug, Pacesetter’s founder and chairman.

Exley could not be reached for comment Tuesday but a spokeswoman for the medium-size residential building firm said the 59-year-old executive told others at the company that he had simply decided that this was a good time to step down.

Exley, who was paid $343,000 in 1990, has been with Pacesetter Homes and its former parent, American Pacesetter, since 1968. He was executive vice president for 17 years.

His employment contract with the company calls for him to be paid $18,750 a year for 10 years after his retirement, according to the company’s latest annual report.

Pacesetter Homes, headquartered in Newport Beach, posted sales of $42 million in 1990. It was hit hard by the home sales slump that began last year, as were most builders, and reported a net loss of $4.9 million after a $3.7-million profit in 1989. The company also lost $735,000 in 1988 but reported profits of $1.7 million and $1.8 million in 1986 and 1987.

The company, which built only 270 homes last year, down from a high of 590 in 1988, specializes in low- and medium-priced, single-family residences and builds throughout Southern California.

Exley, according to the annual report, is a significant Pacesetter Homes shareholder, with 6.8% of the company’s common stock as of Dec. 31, 1990.

Prior to June, 1988, Pacesetter Homes was a subsidiary of American Pacesetter. The home building unit and a business property development unit were spun off to shareholders as separate, publicly traded companies on June 30, 1988.