ON THE SPOT
Aveng chairman optimistic the worst is over after CEO quits
Business Day asks Aveng chairman and acting CEO Eric Diack: should investors see Kobus Verster’s departure as the death knell?
An 18-year chart of construction group Aveng’s share price makes for disturbing viewing: a long, steady build-up, the stock breaks above R12 in 2005, builds to a climax of R66 in August 2008, before a violent, and then steady, collapse to R2.70 now. Weak confidence was not helped by the abrupt exit of CEO Kobus Verster last week. Business Day asked chairman and acting CEO Eric Diack: should investors see Verster’s departure as the death knell? It probably is the nature of the industry, it’s a very tough space at the moment. You’ve seen our results, they weren’t good and Kobus decided to move on. Would they be bad results under anyone? This year was a bit of a watershed: we had some big noncash write-offs, so the bottom line looked particularly ugly and part of that was the QCLNG [Queensland Curtis Liquefied Natural Gas] award, and part of it was the write-down of uncertified revenue. But we did have a poor operating performance, which we aren’t hiding from. Is there managerial contr...
Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.
Subscribe now to unlock this article.
Support BusinessLIVE’s award-winning journalism for R129 per month (digital access only).
There’s never been a more important time to support independent journalism in SA. Our subscription packages now offer an ad-free experience for readers.
Cancel anytime.
Questions? Email helpdesk@businesslive.co.za or call 0860 52 52 00. Got a subscription voucher? Redeem it now.