Intervid names new CEO

By Iain Scott, ITWeb group consulting editor

Johannesburg, 01 Sept 2003

JSE-listed Intervid has appointed caretaker CEO Mark Taylor as its permanent CEO.

Taylor became caretaker CEO in May when he was asked to lead an independent review of the group`s business after what Intervid described as "a period of non-performance".

Former CEO Rob le Sueur was removed as a director in April. The group has said that this was due to differences of opinion with the board on Intervid`s direction. Two other directors left the company soon afterwards.

The review`s findings led to a decision to consolidate the business, restructure the role of the head office and further refine the group`s business model.

Intervid says both the role and composition of the head office will be reduced and reporting structures will be simplified.

"Greater autonomy will be given to regional management to ensure the businesses have the necessary flexibility to adapt business offerings to meet the needs of the different markets they operate in," it says. "However, this will be balanced with strict accountability and clear deliverables to management teams."

It says that to achieve this the group will be restructured into two separate businesses - a regional systems integrator and a technology business focusing on electronic security and business process monitoring.

Intervid has warned previously that its results for the year to June, scheduled for publication next week, will show the effect of lower than expected sales. For the six months to December 2002, the group incurred a headline loss of 23c a share, an improvement from the 35.7c loss a share for the same period the previous year.