Powerscreen's new chief executive Mr Brian Kearney has said that he plans to get the company moving forward again but he also intends to keep it as an independent operation.
"We didn't do all the work we did in the last few months to turn this business from having severe difficulties to one that is as sound and profitable as it is to let somebody else come in and take it," said Mr Kearney, who was appointed chief executive with immediate effect yesterday.
There has been widespread speculation in the market that the company is in play with a number of venture capital companies reported to be looking at it with a view to taking it private.
The decision by Quinn Direct, the insurance company owned by the Sean Quinn Group, to take a 6 per cent stake in the Dungannon-based group also raised questions about the future of the company. Mr Kearney, however, remained adamant that management saw no reason to let the company go.
"Having done what we have done with the business over the last six to nine months, we certainly aren't in a frame of mind where we would like somebody else to become involved," he said.
His appointment brings the management team back to full strength following the resignation of the company's three executive directors after accounting irregularities surfaced at the company's Matbro subsidiary earlier this year.
The other members of the new management team are Mr John Kennerley, who was recently named as finance director, chief operating officer Mr Hubert Watson, and Mr John Craig who will stay on as executive chairman, focusing on legal issues. The company is still awaiting advice from its solicitors on whether it should consider taking action in relation to the Matbro debacle but expects to be briefed before Christmas.
Mr Kearney's appointment was welcomed in the market where the shares rose by 8.5p to 119p sterling in London. "Having a clearcut chief executive is always good news," one analyst said.
Mr Kearney said his aim now was to begin to move the company forward by focusing on organic growth. The underlying businesses continued to generate a significant amount of cash and had good growth potential, he said. The company has retained its screening and crushing business and two companies in its materials handling division - Benford, which manufactures dumpers and road compaction equipment and Dundalk-based forklift manufacturer Moffett.
"We have a situation where we have a strong underlying profit position. We are generating profits and the whole bank and debt position has changed radically over the last six months," Mr Kearney said.
Last March, the company's debt/equity ratio was as high as 200 per cent but, following the recent disposal of USTC it will fall to less than 50 per cent.
Mr Kearney joined Powerscreen in a consulting capacity in April 1998. He assumed the role of acting financial director and helped steer the engineering group through of the difficulties that followed the Matbro revelations.
A fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in Ireland, he has been an independent financial and management consultant for the last eight years.
He is also chairman of Lifestyle Sports Ltd, chairman of Premier Computer Group and is a director of McCormick MacNaughton Ltd, a distributor of earth-moving and construction equipment.
