Quoting from Dow Jones news......
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DJ UPDATE: CEO Groves To Leave ABC Learning Board, Management (2008/09/30 13:21PM)
By Susan Murdoch Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES
MELBOURNE (Dow Jones)--Eddy Groves, the high-profile founder and chief executive of the country''s largest child care operator ABC Learning Centres Ltd. (ABS.AU), will leave the company and its board, the company said Tuesday.
Groves has been under pressure to leave down since the company''s share price was savaged earlier this year, amid concern over its spiraling debt levels following a rapid expansion offshore.
A protracted delay in releasing its full-year accounts, prompting speculation it would unveil a larger-than-expected writedown, is likely to have increased pressure from key investors on Groves to step down.
Groves'' estranged wife Le Neve Groves, who co-founded the company, will also leave the board and its management with immediate effect.
ABC Learning said Rowan Webb, the former boss of fashion retailer Colorado Group, has been appointed interim chief executive with the search for a permanent replacement underway.
Groves said last month he believed he had the support of the company''s major shareholders but Tuesday declined to comment further on the reasons behind his departure.
"We got [the business] to a point where it was stable and it will go on from here, and I think that''s the most important thing," Groves told Dow Jones Newswires.
"As I''ve said to everybody I wanted to stay around to make sure I got it to the point of stability and I''ve made the decision to move on now."
Groves said he has no immediate plans for the future.
A spokeswoman for ABC Learning declined to comment on when the group''s full-year accounts would be released.
Shares in ABC Learning have been suspended from trading since Aug. 21 as new auditors Ernst & Young combed through its fiscal 2008 accounts.
ABC has flagged a pretax loss of A$437 million and a A$213 million writedown for the year ending June 30, 2008. It also foreshadowed adjustments to its 2006-07 accounts, which it said would be released by the end of September.
Shareholders, including the Singapore government''s Temasek Holdings, have had the value of their investment slashed after ABC''s shares plunged from around A$5.18 at the start of the year to 54 cents. The company has come under heavy criticism from analysts for its lack of transparency since it shocked the market in February with a 42% fall in first-half earnings.
Concerns over its mounting debt levels as it pursued acquisitions in the U.S. and U.K. were also raised as the global credit squeeze tightened. In April, ABC sold a 60% stake in its U.S. operations to Morgan Stanley Private Equity to help pay down debt.
ABC Learning is the country''s largest child care center operator with 1,100 centers throughout Australia employing around 16,000 staff looking after more than 100,000 children.
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Oh..Oh.. we're in trouble......someone comes along & burst our bubble......
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DJ UPDATE: CEO Groves To Leave ABC Learning Board, Management (2008/09/30 13:21PM)
By Susan Murdoch Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES
MELBOURNE (Dow Jones)--Eddy Groves, the high-profile founder and chief executive of the country''s largest child care operator ABC Learning Centres Ltd. (ABS.AU), will leave the company and its board, the company said Tuesday.
Groves has been under pressure to leave down since the company''s share price was savaged earlier this year, amid concern over its spiraling debt levels following a rapid expansion offshore.
A protracted delay in releasing its full-year accounts, prompting speculation it would unveil a larger-than-expected writedown, is likely to have increased pressure from key investors on Groves to step down.
Groves'' estranged wife Le Neve Groves, who co-founded the company, will also leave the board and its management with immediate effect.
ABC Learning said Rowan Webb, the former boss of fashion retailer Colorado Group, has been appointed interim chief executive with the search for a permanent replacement underway.
Groves said last month he believed he had the support of the company''s major shareholders but Tuesday declined to comment further on the reasons behind his departure.
"We got [the business] to a point where it was stable and it will go on from here, and I think that''s the most important thing," Groves told Dow Jones Newswires.
"As I''ve said to everybody I wanted to stay around to make sure I got it to the point of stability and I''ve made the decision to move on now."
Groves said he has no immediate plans for the future.
A spokeswoman for ABC Learning declined to comment on when the group''s full-year accounts would be released.
Shares in ABC Learning have been suspended from trading since Aug. 21 as new auditors Ernst & Young combed through its fiscal 2008 accounts.
ABC has flagged a pretax loss of A$437 million and a A$213 million writedown for the year ending June 30, 2008. It also foreshadowed adjustments to its 2006-07 accounts, which it said would be released by the end of September.
Shareholders, including the Singapore government''s Temasek Holdings, have had the value of their investment slashed after ABC''s shares plunged from around A$5.18 at the start of the year to 54 cents. The company has come under heavy criticism from analysts for its lack of transparency since it shocked the market in February with a 42% fall in first-half earnings.
Concerns over its mounting debt levels as it pursued acquisitions in the U.S. and U.K. were also raised as the global credit squeeze tightened. In April, ABC sold a 60% stake in its U.S. operations to Morgan Stanley Private Equity to help pay down debt.
ABC Learning is the country''s largest child care center operator with 1,100 centers throughout Australia employing around 16,000 staff looking after more than 100,000 children.
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Oh..Oh.. we're in trouble......someone comes along & burst our bubble......
