Crowe Horwath seeks new chief

Accounting consolidator Crowe Horwath Australasia (formerly WHK Group) is conducting a global search for a new managing director following the sudden resignation of John Lombard.

The group’s chief financial officer, Chris Price, has been appointed acting chief executive in the interim.

In a statement to the Australian Stock Exchange, the group’s chairman, Richard Grellman, said the board had decided the company had reached a point “where it is more appropriate for a new chief executive to lead the company through its next stage of development”.

He noted that given the outlook for a slow economy in the 2014 financial year, the company expected business confidence in the small-to-medium-enterprise market to remain low and trading conditions to be challenging.

Last month, Crowe Horwath Australasia reported a net profit after tax of $7 million for the year to June 30, 2013, down from $10.2 million in the previous corresponding period. The group, which has been fending off a merger with SFG Australia, also announced a 2 per cent drop in overall operating revenue to $405.9 million. It is also currently facing a $70-million legal claim filed against one of its member firms in New Zealand.