Matthew Roberts, the chief financial officer (CFO) of property group, Intu PLC (LON:INTU), is to replace David Fischel as chief executive officer.
Roberts has been CFO of Intu since 2010, prior to which he was the CFO of bingo halls and betting shops operator Gala Coral.
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He will take over from Fischel on 29 April. Fischel - who has been at the helm at the London and Johannesburg listed firm since 2001 - announced his intention to stand down from his position in July 2018.
It has been thought that David Buffin, the former CFO of building materials seller Travis Perkins, was the preferred candidate of the Intu firm but John Strachan, the chairman of Intu, has plumped for an internal candidate to revive the company’s fortunes.
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The company, which owns the Trafford Centre in Manchester and Lakeside in Essex, has been hit hard by the travails of the retail sector and had its “Get out of jail free” card taken away from it when the shareholders of rival property group Hammerson PLC (LON:HMSO) got cold feet about a proposed merger of the two.
“Matthew has been an exceptional CFO at intu. This, combined with his extensive and relevant experience, including his proven expertise in leading strategic transformation projects, means he is absolutely the right person to lead this business going forward,” maintained the chairman, John Strachan.
The company is now on the look-out for a new CFO.