Salvesen CFO resigns
European logistics provider, Christian Salvesen, has announced the resignation of its Chief Finance Officer, Peter Aspden. Although there has been some speculation about the exact circumstances of his exit, the company made a statement that the board had wanted someone else to undertake corporate re-structuring alongside the chief executive, Edward Roderick. Over 30% of shareholders either abstained or voted against Aspden’s reappointment at the company’s recent annual general meeting.
The departure of Salvesen’s CFO follows news earlier in the year that the company’s Chairman, Jonathan Fry would also be standing down. Salvesen has had a troubled eighteen months issuing four profit warnings and reporting a £5.5m (€8.03m) loss after exceptional costs. Its largest single investor, the Swedish investment house Custos, announced its withdrawal from the company stating that it saw better investment opportunities elsewhere. It was unhappy that a bid for the company by an unnamed investor had not been placed before shareholders by the board.
At present Salvesen is in the midst of a major re-structuring. In the UK, Salvesen’s plans include the merger of its two UK divisions: industrial and consumer. It is reported that this is resulting in a number of job losses. In Germany, the company has recently sold off its loss making division, Wohlfarth, to its managing director. Its Spanish operations have also undergone radical changes and managed to break even at the end of last year. However even though the company has faced problems and despite a fall in profitability, its margins are still above average. Its shared user network business model is sensitive to falls in volumes, which although hurting the company in the present economic conditions, will prove valuable when European economies pick up.
