Kobus Verster appointed new CEO of Aveng
JSE-Listed construction and engineering firm Aveng has appointed financial director and acting CEO‚ Kobus Verster‚ as CEO‚ with immediate affect‚ the company said on Tuesday.
JSE-Listed construction and engineering firm Aveng has appointed financial director and acting CEO‚ Kobus Verster‚ as CEO‚ with immediate affect‚ the company said on Tuesday.
Mr Verster (47) joined the Aveng Group on the September 27 2010 when he was appointed financial director and he was subsequently appointed as acting CEO on August 21 2013.
Mr Verster holds a BComm degree from the University of Potchefstroom and a BComm Honours (Economics) degree from the University of Pretoria.
He also holds an MBL from the University of South Africa (Unisa) and attended the Executive Management Programme at the University of Virginia in the USA.
Prior to joining the Aveng Group Mr Verster was CFO at ArcelorMittal SA‚ where he had previously held various senior management positions.
Aveng said: “Kobus has extensive experience in the steel and mining sectors and since joining Aveng has developed detailed insight into the group’s operations‚ their opportunities and constraints.
Construction and engineering in South Africa and Africa had a horrific year that ended with an operating loss of R914m and a clutch of seriously problematic contracts.
In November chairman Angus Band told shareholders at the group’s AGM that the Construction & Engineering SA and Africa segment was still getting its house in order and labour unrest was not helping. One of the group’s major headaches, the Queensland Curtis Liquid Natural Gas Pipeline Project (QCLNG) in Australia was nearing completion, but claims relating to the project were still being resolved and held risk.
In January Aveng updated the market about QCLNC, saying the client was satisfied with the delivery of the project, but repeating that the claims remain a risk. Aveng and its joint venture partner lost the first part of the arbitration and submitted an appeal against this decision last month. The remaining claims are “in both number and monetary value” considerably larger than those in the initial award, Aveng said.
Aveng is announcing its interim results on February 25 and it will only then be clear whether it is starting to get a grip on its problems.
The picture that unfolds will indicate what has been done since Verster took the helm in September and whether there are any early signs of its success or not.
