(Recasts, adds details)
ITASCA, Ill., Sept. 23 (Reuters) - Automotive services company Midas Inc. said on Monday its chief executive has quit and it will swing to a loss in the third quarter due to higher medical claims, severance expenses and declining sales in its wholesale parts distribution business.
Shares of Midas, which does car oil changes, air conditioning repairs and wheel alignment, tumbled 17 percent in morning New York Stock Exchange trade, where they were the worst percentage loser.
Midas said it expects to post a "modest" loss for the third quarter, compared with a year-earlier profit of 35 cents a share.
The company said revenue should be about flat with the $85.2 million it reported in third quarter 2001.
Midas also said Chief Executive Wendel Province, 54, has resigned, and Chief Operating Officer Gary Vonk will replace him on an interim basis.
The company said it will begin a search for Province's permanent replacement.
Vonk joined Midas in January 2001 as president and COO, while Province had been chairman and CEO since the spinoff from Whitman.
Midas has also appointed Robert Schoeberl as nonexecutive chairman of its board. Schoeberl retired in 1994 as executive vice president and member of the executive committee of Chicago-based Montgomery Ward, a mass retailer of consumer products.
In the late morning, Midas shares were down $1.09 at $5.31, their lowest level since the spinoff.