(Adds context, detail on equity raise)
By Pamela Barbaglia
LONDON, Aug 31 (Reuters) - Non-Standard Finance said
on Tuesday it has appointed chief financial officer Jono
Gillespie as chief executive with immediate effect, as the
British subprime lender prepares for a capital hike to shore up
reserves and avoid covenant breaches.
Gillespie takes over from previous boss John Van Kuffeler,
an industry veteran who set up NSF in 2015 after running home
credit group Provident Financial for 22 years.
"Given the pending recapitalisation of the company, we have
agreed with John van Kuffeler that we should accelerate the
long-planned leadership change and appoint Jono Gillespie as
group CEO prior to commencing meetings with investors," said
chairman Charles Gregson.
Gillespie, who also worked at Provident as a senior
executive, has been deeply involved in discussions over a
substantial equity increase that NSF is looking to launch in the
third quarter of the year.
He will continue to look after the company's finances while
a process to appoint a new chief financial officer is underway,
the company said.
Gillespie stressed the cap hike would transform the group's
prospects, enabling it "to make the most of the UK economic
recovery".
NSF, whose loan book at the end of a pandemic-hit 2020 was
just two-thirds of what it was a year earlier, said in June that
it was seeking to raise around 80 million pounds ($110.36
million) in the third quarter.
That will potentially be through a share sale backed by its
largest investor Alchemy.
The London-based doorstep lender flagged in February that it
needed more capital in order to avoid covenant breaches.
($1 = 0.7249 pounds)
(Reporting by Pamela Barbaglia; Editing by Mark Potter and Jan
Harvey)