Malouf departs in further shake out at top of Stockford

In a further shake up at the top of troubled accounting and financial planning consolidatorStockford, chief executive and managing director John Malouf announced yesterday he had resigned from the group.

The resignation comes just six months after the former AGC managing director was appointed in an attempt to reverse Stockford’s plummeting share price and languishing profits.

Malouf will be replaced by Stockford’s general manager of business services Adam Cowell, who has been appointed in the role of acting chief executive.

Stockford chairman Chris Riordan, who only took on the position last month, refused today to comment on the exact circumstances of Malouf’s departure.

But the resignation will no doubt be seen in the context of Riordan’s appointment with a reputation as a ‘corporate turn-around specialist’.

Malouf’s resignation also marks a complete reshuffle of the Stockford board since Riordan’s appointment.

Along with Malouf, formerSt George Bankinvestment services group executive Richard Cawsey, former Stockford chairman Brian Clayton, and two other directors, Merran Kelsall and Lawrie Robertson, have all resigned from the Stockford board over the last month.

“My role is to bring about change and to get Stockford back on the right track. As a result of that, unfortunately, there will be changes [in personnel]. I make no apologies about that,” Riordan says.

Cowell, a former head of the financial services division at the Mercantile Bank in South Africa, takes on the top job at Stockford after only three months with the group.

“He only joined a couple of months ago but he has certainly impressed the new board in the way he has gone about his job. I believe he will have the support of the overall majority of principals in Stockford practises,” Riordan says.

The reorganisation of Stockford’s board and management structure comes hot on the heels of a meeting between Riordan and key practice principles earlier this month.

The meeting resulted in the signing of an accord by Stockford’s senior management that will see it set up an advisory council made up of representatives elected by its practice principals.

The representatives are expected to be elected over the next week, with the first meeting of the council scheduled for early November.

Stockford reported an after tax loss of $123.8 million for the full year to June 30, 2002. The loss included a $104.5 million write down in the value of the group’s goodwill.