Cendant Names Alliance Marketing CFO

Cendant Corp. said it created the position of chief financial officer at its troubled Alliance Marketing division and named Michael Wargotz, 39, to the post. Wargotz previously was senior vice president for investor relations at HFS Inc. and most recently was senior vice president for business development at Cendant, which was created in December with the merger of HFS and CUC International Inc. The company also said it will have investor meetings in May to discuss Alliance’s outlook and operations. The news helped push beleaguered Cendant’s shares up $2.31 to close at $23.50 on the NYSE. Last week, the company’s stock fell nearly 43% on news that “potential” accounting irregularities at the former CUC segment would result in the lowering of 1997 earnings by as much as $115 million, before restructuring and charges, or 13 cents a share. Parsippany, N.J.-based Cendant, is a consumer and business services giant created in December with the merger of HFS and CUC.