Beleaguered Steinhoff reshuffles the desk chairs

Steinhoff International promoted its chief operating officer‚ Danie van der Merwe‚ to acting CEO on Tuesday.

It also appointed a deputy CEO‚ Alexandre Nodale‚ who will double in the new role while remaining CEO of subsidiary Conforama.

Louis Du Preez‚ described as an experienced‚ qualified attorney specialising in corporate and commercial matters‚ was appointed commercial director.

The three new appointments‚ together with chief financial officer Ben La Grange‚ will make up Steinhoff’s management board.

Tuesday’s management reshuffle coincided with the furniture retailer’s meeting with banks‚ which was postponed from December 11 after it indefinitely delayed releasing its results following the discovery of accounting irregularities.

Steinhoff’s management board was appointed by its supervisory board made up of former Sanlam CEO Johan van Zyl‚ former Absa CEO Steve Booysen‚ and Heather Sonn‚ who replaced Christo Wiese as the group’s chairperson on December 15.

On December 5‚ when then CEO Markus Jooste suddenly resigned‚ sending Steinhoff’s share price crashing‚ Wiese said he intended running the group with the assistance of former Pepkor CEO Pieter Erasmus.

Steinhoff’s share price continued its rebound on Tuesday‚ gaining 8% to R9.14 — taking it back to about a sixth of the R57.50 it was trading at before the accounting scandal was announced. - BusinessLIVE