With Nampak CEO Phil Roux set to step down from the role within the next three months, his hard years of the past two years has seen the group’s share price rally 70% over the past year as the market endorses the group’s turnaround blueprint, which it has implemented at pace.
The share price rally has seen the group claw back market value losses of the past five years, ending Thursday’s trading day valued at about R4.49bn.
This is R4bn more than what the group was worth in May 2023, as it undertook a painful task of cutting job cuts, salary freezes and a reduction in overtime as it battled a cash crunch.
The group at the time was also faced with a multibillion debt pile and its failed African expansion, which saw it accumulate debt on the market.
The R1bn rights issue and the extension on its debt maturity also added fresh impetus to the group, giving Roux and his management team space and time to clean up the balance sheet.
The turnaround has also been anchored around the disposal of noncore businesses, including the marquee sale of Bevcan Nigeria for R1.3bn — a deal the group has described as a game- changer.
The corporate actions have seen the group’s debt half to R3bn from R6bn two years ago, bridging the stakeholder trust deficit.
The group reported a 11% growth in revenue to R5.6bn, while its trading profit surged 22% to R764m in the six months ended March.
The profit for the year from discontinued operations was R2.5bn compared with a loss of R574m in the previous period mainly due to the R2.4bn recycling of a foreign currency translation reserve after the sale of Bevcan Nigeria.
Roux will step down from the CEO role at the end of September, with Andrew Hood set to take over from October.
To manage the transition, Hood was appointed as COO from April to work closely with Roux during the transition period.
Roux, appointed CEO in April 2023, will remain on the board in a non-executive capacity. To retain his turnaround expertise, the board will establish a “strategic planning and oversight committee,” to be chaired by Roux, with Hood also set to serve on the committee.
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