METCASH BOSS SAYS HE’S LEAVING IT IN GOOD SHAPE
OUTGOING Metcash chief Ian Morrice says he is leaving the food and grocery wholesaler with a balance sheet that provides it with the firepower to move on future growth opportunities.
Metcash had also been proactive in building a sustainable business at a time of “unprecedented” upheaval in the grocery sector, Mr Morrice said.
The Scotsman yesterday announced he would leave Metcash – which supplies supermarkets under the Independent Grocers of Australia banner and owns Mitre 10 and Home Timber & Hardware – by the middle of next year after five years in the role.
The announcement came as Metcash, which has struggled in an increasingly competitive supermarket space, delivered a better-than-expected profit haul and resumed paying dividends.
“It’s the right time,” Mr Morrice said of his retirement.
He has implemented a $750 million turnaround strategy at the group, cutting costs, introducing “price matching” on everyday grocery items at participating IGA stores and helping owners refurbish their outlets.
Other key decisions have included buying Home Timber and Hardware from Woolworths and selling Metcash’s automotive division, which included the Autopro, Autobarn and Midas chains.
Mr Morrice nominated a strong balance sheet – its net debt has been cut from $275.5 million to $80.8 million – and the ability of independent retailers to invest and upgrade their businesses as key achievements.
Shares in Metcash slumped to a 14-year low in late 2015 and have since more than doubled in value.
Net profit slumped 21 per cent to $171.9 million for the year to April as Metcash absorbed restructuring costs associated with its hardware expansion and gave up revenue from its discontinued automotive business.
Underlying profit, which strips out one-offs, rose more than 9 per cent to $194.8 million. Shares in Metcash closed up 5 per cent at $2.30.