Financially troubled IT services group Gijima has lost its long-serving chief financial officer, Carlos Ferreira, who is stepping down after eight years in the role.
The move comes just two months after Gijima shareholders approved a rights offer, meant to raise R150m in order to meet its “funding covenants” and to finance its working capital requirements.
Gijima told shareholders on Tuesday that it had appointed Liesl Tweedie as acting chief financial officer and director in Ferreira’s place.
The move means Gijima’s top two executive positions are being held by people in acting capacities: the company is being led by acting CEO Eileen Wilton following the resignation last year of Jonas Bogoshi.
Ferreira tendered his resignation on Monday, eight days after the conclusion of Gijima’s 2013 financial year. He told TechCentral that he felt it was the right time to move on. “We’ve had a pretty rough time in terms of restructuring and recapitalising the business,” he said. “The business is now on a much more solid footing.”
According to Gijima, an acting chief financial officer has been appointed in order to facilitate the process of advertising for and interviewing an appropriate candidate to fill the position permanently, Gijima said. Tweedie, a chartered accountant who was formerly deputy chief financial officer at ABB, will begin work this Thursday.
“The board has full trust and confidence in Tweedie’s ability and remains positive about the outlook of the company.”
Gijima announced its planned rights offer at the end of March after posting a loss of R106m from continuing operations for the six months ended 31 December 2012, from a loss of R69,6m a year earlier.
On Tuesday, Gijima was trading down by 1c/share, or 16,7%, following news of Ferreira’s resignation. The counter has lost 86% of its value in the past 12 months. — (c) 2013 NewsCentral Media
