2 months ago
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The firm turnaround adept who presided implicit the break-up and merchantability of De La Rue, the Bank of England's currency printer, is to instrumentality the helm astatine the troubled Scottish broadcaster STV Group.
Sky News has learnt that Clive Whiley is to beryllium parachuted successful arsenic the caller president of STV, whose Two Cities accumulation institution is liable for the deed BBC constabulary play Blue Lights.
An announcement could travel arsenic soon arsenic the media group's half-year results connected Thursday, 1 City insider said connected Wednesday evening.
Sources adjacent to 1 of STV's apical investors said that Mr Whiley had been asked to see taking connected the relation amid mounting interest implicit its performance.
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He is expected to regenerate Paul Reynolds, the erstwhile BT Wholesale main enforcement who has chaired STV since 2021.
Shares successful STV Group person fallen by much than 50% during the past year, leaving the institution with a marketplace capitalisation of small much than £54m.
The company's largest shareholders see Slater Investments and Aberforth Partners.
Mr Whiley remains president of Mothercare, the listed retailer, and Griffin Mining, which is besides quoted connected the London Stock Exchange.
Earlier this year, helium oversaw the merchantability of De La Rue's currency concern to Atlas Holdings, a US-based backstage equity investor, for much than £260m.
Combined with the proceeds from the earlier merchantability of its authentication business, the disposals importantly exceeded investors' expectations.
If confirmed successful the STV relation arsenic expected, Mr Whiley volition person different challenging turnaround occupation connected his hands.
In July, the institution which holds the ITV licence successful parts of Scotland issued a bleak nett warning, saying that "as a effect of a further deterioration successful the commissioning and advertizing markets towards the extremity of [the archetypal fractional of the fiscal year] and into [the 2nd half], our expectations for full-year gross and adjusted operating nett are expected to beryllium materially beneath consensus".
Rufus Radcliffe, STV's main executive, said successful the aforesaid statement: "The deteriorating macroeconomic backdrop continues to little concern assurance impacting some markets successful which we operate.
"We're making bully advancement successful combining and streamlining our Broadcast and Digital businesses into a caller Audience division, and motorboat plans for the instauration of our vigor presumption are going well, with cardinal appointments made and infrastructure plans forging ahead."
He added that its Studios arm's transportation docket had been deed by the UK commissioning market, "which has further weakened astatine the extremity of H1 and into the 2nd fractional of the year".
"However, successful summation to winning caller and repetition concern successful H1, we person completed accumulation connected cardinal titles with planetary appeal, including high-end play Amadeus for Sky and a 3rd bid of Blue Lights for BBC One, with the 2nd bid of The Fortune Hotel airing connected ITV and STV this summertime - and our improvement pipeline is strong."
STV has evolved substantially from its origins successful the 1950s, having changed its firm sanction connected respective occasions since.
It has owned assets spanning the newspaper, advertizing and vigor sectors.
On Wednesday, the banal closed astatine conscionable nether 112p, down much than 3% connected the day.
A spokesperson for STV declined to comment.
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