Sept 12 (Askume) – Australian broadcaster Nine Entertainment (NEC.AX) said on Thursday that chief executive Mike Sneesby will resign on Sept. 30 as chief financial and strategy officer Matt Stanton takes over on an interim basis.
The company’s shares fell as much as 4.4% to their lowest since April 27, 2020, and were among the biggest decliners on the benchmark stock index (.AXJO) , which was up 0.6% by 1237 GMT.
Stanton was appointed as Nine’s chief financial and strategy officer in August 2023 and will serve as acting chief executive from 1 October.
Prior to joining Channel 9, he served as chief transformation officer for Woolworths (WOW.AX) , one of Australia’s top grocers.
Darren Leung, senior research analyst at Macquarie Securities (Australia), said: “The group needs to start cutting costs to maintain profitability in fiscal year 2025 – the CEO’s additional responsibilities prevent him from cutting costs. It may be a distraction.”
In its latest annual results , Nine’s net profit after tax fell 22%, with revenue down 3%.
Sneesby was appointed chief executive of Nine in April 2021, following which the company’s shares fell more than 55% on Wednesday.
The CEO change comes just months after chairman Peter Costello resigned and non-executive vice chairman Catherine West took over .
The company said it will initiate an appointment process to identify a new chief executive.
