Halma Regulatory News (HLMA)

1 Mar 2005 07:00

Halma PLC1 March 2005 Halma p.l.c. Board Changes Halma, the leading safety and environmental technology group, announces theappointment of Andrew Williams as Chief Executive and the retirement of StephenO'Shea with effect from 28 February 2005. Andrew was appointed Deputy Chief Executive in November 2004 and has workedalongside Stephen O'Shea since that time to ensure a smooth transition tobecoming CEO. This timing enables Andrew to close out this financial year andclearly assume responsibility for both the budgeting and the performance of thecoming financial year. Andrew Williams was appointed to the Board in July 2004 having joined Halma in1994. He has been very successful within the Group both as an operating companyManaging Director and as a Divisional Chief Executive. Andrew was responsiblefor the acquisition of Ocean Optics Inc., an excellent recent addition to theGroup, as well as playing a significant role in the development of people rightacross Halma. Commenting on the changes, Chairman Geoff Unwin said, "Following an extensiveevaluation process, I am delighted that an internal candidate demonstrated thestrongest leadership potential. The Board and I are confident that Andrew willbuild on the excellent platform that Stephen O'Shea has nurtured and that Andrewwill continue to encourage growth and innovation across the Group. "Stephen O'Shea's retirement marks another milestone in the history of Halma. Stephen joined the Group in 1983 with Halma's purchase of Apollo Fire DetectorsLimited where he was Managing Director. Stephen was promoted up through theranks, ultimately being appointed Chief Executive in 1995. The Board and I wishto record our thanks to Stephen for his strong leadership over the past 10years. Impressively, during Stephen's tenure, the Group's turnover has doubledand headline profits have grown from £29 million to over £50 million." Halma today is capitalised at approximately £600 million, and the Group iswidely recognised for its ability to create wealth for its shareholders and forits consistently high returns on capital employed. Halma's trading statement relating to the year ending 2 April 2005 will beissued as usual in late April 2005. For further information, please contact: Geoff Unwin, Chairman +44 (0)1494 721111 Andrew Williams, Chief Executive Kevin Thompson, Finance Director Hogarth Partnership Limited +44 (0)20 7357 9477 Rachel Hirst/Andrew Jaques A copy of this announcement, together with other information about Halma, may beviewed on its website: www.halma.com This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange