Dollman to leave John Menzies to pursue portfolio career

LOGISTICS GROUP John Menzies has said that group finance director Paul Dollman is to resign alongside news that full-year results will be in line with expectations.

Dollman, appointed group FD in 2002, will not seek re-election at its annual general meeting in May, subject to a successor being appointed, and intends to concentrate on building a portfolio career.

A chartered accountant, he was previously FD at William Grant & Sons, and also held senior financial positions with Inveresk, Maddox Group and Clydesdale Retail Group.

The board also said that, following the decision to restructure its struggling UK cargo business, it anticipates the full-year result to be in line with its expectations.

Menzies said it has decided to close its cargo handling operations at Chicago Airport, having "exhausted all alternative options" over the last two years. This will result in an exceptional charge of £7m in 2012 but will improve EBIT in 2013 by around £1.4m.

Following the series of restructuring actions across both divisions, the full-year exceptional charge will be in the region of £18m.

Net debt at the year-end is expected to be below £100m, while the group interest charge will increase by approximately £2.5m in 2013, purely as a result of the change to the accounting treatment of IAS19.