Computershare veteran Stuart Irving is moving up in the world, grabbing the top seat as CEO Stuart Crosby announces his surprise departure. After eight tough years in the role Crosby leaves the business in rude health, which saw share value grow by a solid 140% during his tenure, and will hand over the reins on June 30th.
Irving has been with Computershare for 15 years, with extensive international experience on many of the company’s global business lines in the US, Canada, Hong Kong and South Africa. Global chief information officer since 2008, Irving was responsible for much of the set-up of Computershare’s global IT capacity. Officially taking the top seat July 1st, Irving looks forward to continuing to grow the business.
"I look forward to building on Stuarts's achievements and I am honoured and excited to become CEO of this great company. With the support of our dedicated and hardworking staff, I look forward to delivering continued success for all of our stakeholders," said Irving.
Powered by a fleet of Ricoh InfoPrint 5000 high-speed inkjet engines, Computershare is one of the leading BPO providers in Australia, with Australian operations netting $211.3 million in the six months ending December 31, 2013. Despite a 1.1% dip in overall revenues for the business, down to $987.6 million, net profits saw a spike of 47.7% to $139.4 million across the same period.
Crosby’s tenure saw the business through a string of acquisitions, expanding its international market presence and making it one of the few companies to actually raise equity during the global financial crisis. Irving was himself responsible for handling the technical and operational integration of many of these acquisitions.
Crosby said, "It has been a privilege to lead Computershare for nearly eight years. It is a very rewarding if demanding role, and the time is right for me to hand over. Stuart Irving, along with CFO Mark Davis, will head a formidable team to take the company forward and I am very confident that I will leave Computershare in the best possible hands."
Speaking with the Financial Review a Deutche Bank analyst, Kieren Chidgey, raised questions about future growth for the business, calling its revenue growth "still elusive." He predicts a further 0.3% decline in the second half, commenting that delivered profits partly reflected efficiency gains from offshoring of costs, and that underlying costs were largely flat.