PCL ushers in interim management

 Conglomerate Press Corporation Limited (PCL) plc has ushered in interim management as its top executives.

The move, which follows an ongoing functional review exercise set to bring radical changes, includes removal of some positions at its corporate office.

The company will see the departure of its group chief executive (GCE) George Partridge, group financial controller (GFC) Elizabeth Mafeni and group administration executive (GAE) and company secretary Bernard Ndau with effect from January 31 2022.

In a published statement yesterday, PCL board chairperson Randson Mwadiwa said the board has assigned PCL general manager operations Lyton Chithambo as acting GCE, while the roles of GFC and company secretary have been assigned to current group chief accountant Moureen Mbeye.

He said: “During the initial phase, the exercise which included job role review, realignment and right and cost effective positioning has resulted in the adoption of a modified corporate office structure.

“The board is grateful to the outgoing executives for their contribution during the time they served PCL and wishes them success in their future endeavours. The board is confident that both Chithambo and Mbeye will discharge their assigned responsibilities with skill and diligence.”

Ac cording to the statement, Chithambo holds a PhD in finance, a master of sceince in finance and risk, a bachelor of commerce (BCom) in accountancy and is a fellow of both Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) and Higher Education Institute of the United Kingdom. While Mbeye, is a fellow of ACCA and has a BCom in accountancy and is a certified public accountant.

During the past three years, profitability of the Malawi Stock Exchange-listed firm has dwindled as profit after tax declined from

 K36.71 billion in 2018 to K24.76 billion in 2019 and further down to K19.9 billion in 2020.

In 2019, PCL recorded a K8.86 billion profit on restructuring the telecoms segment in the prior year and one-off expenses relating to restructuring costs in subsidiary companies National Bank of Malawi plc (K892 million), TNM plc (K1.02 billion) and Ethanol Company (K450 million), the decline in underlying profit is three percent.

Prior to listing in September 1998, the sole investment of Press Trust was PCL in which the Trust held 93 percent of the issued share capital while Old Mutual had the remaining seven percent.

Currently, PCL shareholding comprises Press Trust with 46.65 percent, Old Mutual Assurance Company with 16.29 percent, Standard Bank of South Africa holds 2.94 percent and others, including the public, a collective 34.12 percent.