Comvita CEO David Banfield is stepping down in favour of chairman Brett Hewlett as the Kiwi Manuka honey maker undergoes a “strategic reset”.
The change, which also includes the position of managing director, will take effect from 31 August. Banfield will become a strategic advisor for the Wellington-listed business.
Bridget Coates takes up the role of chairman from Brett Hewlett, while the composition of the board will be reduced from eight to six.
“Given the requirement for a longer-term commitment to see through a strategic reset and then the journey back to growth, David has decided to step down,” Comvita said in a stock-exchange announcement today (13 August).
“In his new project-based role as strategic advisor, David will support the board on several projects on short- to medium-term strategies for further building revenue and optimising distribution models in key global markets.”
It has been a difficult few years for Comvita since the pandemic, culminating in a series of profit warnings and a failed takeover bid. A trading update issued in July showed the business booked a loss after tax of NZ$16.8m ($9.8m) in the 2024 financial year.
At the same time, Comvita warned a pending potential impairment charge could worsen those losses, while annual sales were expected to fall short of the full-year guidance.
Incoming CEO Hewlett said today: “The full extent of the impact of the global economic slowdown on our sales decline during FY-24 and the resultant effect on profits and share price has been confronting for the board and shareholders.
“Faced with an extremely poor FY-24 financial result and the slower-than- anticipated recovery in global demand, we are obliged to pause several longer- term investment strategies and take a more cautious approach to deploying capital and resources, whilst implementing a sharper focus on a number of immediate value opportunities.”
Hewlett joined Comvita in 2005 as CEO and has held a number of executive positions at the company, despite a sabbatical from 2015-17. He was appointed to lead a strategic review in the 2019 fiscal year before becoming chairman early in 2020.
“In his new capacity of acting CEO, Brett will focus on cost reduction initiatives, organisational resilience, driving bottom-line growth and restoring shareholder value,” Comvita said.
Incoming chair Coates joined Comvita in September 2021 as an independent director and she will be replaced as the head of the audit and risk committee by Mike Sang, who is currently a director and a member of that committee.
Banfield, who became CEO in 2020, said: “I am disappointed to leave at a time when our performance over the last year has been weak, impacted by the slowdown in our biggest market - China.
“As a believer in a performance culture, I take ultimate responsibility for this result but have a real belief that as conditions improve the investments we have made will help return us to profitable growth in the near future.”
