Omni Makes Major Changes

NEW YORK--Omni Nutraceuticals Inc. (OMNT) decided to leverage its Internet business to focus on HealthZone.com, its Internet site. As a result, Omni will change its name to HealthZone.com and its Nasdaq NMS symbol will change from OMNT to ZONE. However, the company's branded products, sold under the Omni Nutraceuticals label, will retain the Omni name.

In conjunction with the changes, co-founder Klee Irwin has stepped in as chief executive officer and president. He is replacing Louis Mancini. Irwin has a turnaround plan for the company that includes eradicating the debt load, cutting extraneous expenses, increasing acquisitions and expanding the HealthZone.com Internet business. In addition, three of the five serving on the board of directors were replaced by Albert Kashani, Christof Ballina and Martin Sumichrast. Klee Irwin and Andew Vollero will remain on the board.

In related news, net sales increased 37 percent in the 4th quarter, comparable to the same 1998 quarter, and OMNI was upgraded from "buy" to "strong buy" by Global Capital Markets LLC. According to Global Capital, the upgrade is a reflection of the company's new Internet strategy. Its current $10 billion market is expected to expand to $12.3 billion by 2001. In addition, an expected four to six upcoming acquisitions are expected to bring the company another $150 million. As a result, Global Capital projected that Omni's current short-term 3 to 6-month target price of $12 will increase to $24 in its 6 to 12-month long term target price.