LONDON (Alliance News) - Shares in aviation services firm John Menzies PLC fell Tuesday as the firm warned of a slow start to 2019, while Chief Executive Forsyth Black also departed.
The stock was trading at 503.00 pence a share on Tuesday morning, down 7.4%.
Black has been with John Menzies for 19 years. Replacing him on an interim basis while the company looks at both internal and external candidates is Chief Financial Officer Giles Wilson.
Chair Dermot Smurfit said: "We would like to thank Forsyth for his dedication to the group for the past 19 years and we wish him all the best for the future.
"Led by Giles, we are confident the strong and experienced team we have in place will move the business forward in the short term. Simultaneously the board will immediately undertake a thorough search for a new CEO, both internally and externally."
Turning to 2018 results, John Menzies said trading in the first two months of 2019 has been "tempered" by soft cargo volumes and continued labour market difficulties in North America.
However, despite this, the company remains confident on 2019 prospects.
For 2018, revenue from continuing operations was GBP1.29 billion, and GBP1.32 billion at constant currency, from GBP1.27 billion a year prior.
Pretax profit rose to GBP21.6 million from GBP9.9 million, and underlying pretax profit to GBP44.1 million, and GBP46.4 million at constant currency, from GBP42.3 million.
John Menzies is paying a 14.5 pence final dividend, taking the total for 2018 to 20.5p, the same as the year before.
The core Menzies Aviation business had another year of progress, John Menzies said, achieving a "very resilient" outturn despite a difficult market, in particular in North America where labour shortages continue to hurt costs and performance.
Business in the Americas overall struggled, but Europe, the Middle East, & Africa had a "very strong" year. Performance in the Rest of the World segment was likewise "excellent".
Chair Smurfit said: "I am pleased to report further progress with our aviation business.
"We continue to deliver against our excellence manifesto which will drive a differential between ourselves and others. Our industry is evolving and positioning ourselves as an airlines logistics services partner of choice will help us to grow our business."
"As I look forward I continue to see clear opportunities to sensibly grow. We have strong management teams and excellent systems and processes that will allow us to deliver service excellence and sustainable earnings growth," Smurfit added.
