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(Adds background on market slowdown, results date change)
Feb 25 (Reuters) - SIG Plc said on Tuesday it was
replacing Chief Executive Officer Meinie Oldersma with the
former head of collapsed cafe operator Patisserie, Steve
Francis, as it seeks to stem a slide in its business due to a
weak European construction market.
The UK building materials supplier, which has issued a pair
of warnings on results since last October, also said that
finance head Nick Maddock would step down.
Francis will act as CEO until the end of this year while
Kath Kearney-Croft, the former head of camera and lighting
equipment supplier Vitec Group, will take the CFO role
on an interim basis, SIG said.
"Now that this essential restructuring of the group has
largely been completed, the board believes that it is time for a
new leadership team," the company said.
SIG, which operates in the UK, Ireland and Mainland Europe
with 8,300 employees, said results for the year ended Dec. 31
would be in line with guidance provided in January.
The company also pushed its full-year results to the second
half of April from early March in light of the management
changes.
SIG warned last month that sales in December had fallen by a
quarter versus November, blaming a fall in construction activity
in key markets. It expected underlying pretax profit of about 42
million pounds ($55 million) for the year to December, well
below some market estimates.
For most of the last year, the UK was bogged down by
uncertainty pertaining to the country's exit from the European
Union.
The government hopes the economy will bounce back this year
after Prime Minister Boris Johnson's victory in December
elections and the subsequent formal departure from the bloc,
although doubts remain about the future shape of trade.
(Reporting by Muvija M in Bengaluru; Editing by Sriraj
Kalluvila and Patrick Graham)
