More top staff leave insurer
Two more Alexander Forbes executives have resigned from the South African insurance services provider, extending a management exodus following the ousting of former CEO Andrew Darfoor in September.
Tony Powis, CEO of corporate and employee benefits, and Sugendhree Reddy, head of retail financial services, will leave by the end of January, Alexander Forbes's new CEO, Dawie de Villiers, said in an interview on Wednesday.
The total number of senior departures – including Darfoor – is now seven.
“All the resignations were in a short period of time but for different individual reasons,” said De Villiers, who took the helm in November.
Alexander Forbes was midway through a turnaround programme when Darfoor was ousted after his strategy was questioned by the company’s second-largest shareholder, African Rainbow Capital Investments.
The insurer, which also provides retirement and investment services, reported a loss for the six months to the end of September following write-offs related to a botched IT project.
De Villiers said in December that he would devise a new strategy for the firm by the end of March, with challenges including sluggish economic growth in SA and an unemployment rate of more than 27%.
The shares traded 0.2% lower at R4.74 as of 11.33am in Johannesburg, valuing the company at R6.4bn. The stock has fallen 31% over the past 12 months.