A discrete time after G4S embarrassingly failed in a £5bn bid for Danish rival ISS, the company's chairman is set to step down.
Alf Duc-Pedersen will retire from the board this year, once a suitable replacement has been found. The company came under fire from shareholders for attempting such a huge takeover in the current economic climate, not least because a £2bn rights issue was planned to help pay for the deal. In its statement the company said he would retire having reached the age of 65 and "following the board's decision to terminate negotiations regarding the ISS acquisition" but it preferred to emphasise how the company delivered 21% annual growth during his tenure.
Chief executive Nick Buckles, who was also at the heart of the failed bid for ISS, remains in place. In the market G4S shares have edged up 0.7p to 272.2p.
Meanwhile engineering group Invensys remains one of the day's biggest fallers following a profit warning. It is down 46.1p at 181p, which is embarrassing for joint broker Merrill Lynch whose analysts raised their recommendation on Thursday - the day before the warning - from neutral to buy. In a note entitled Getting back on track, Merrill said:
We continue to see some risk around controls and rail margins, although the risk looks low relative to the sector.
It was right about the risk to rail margins - this is one of the areas which has led to the profit warning.
