The company turnaround professional who presided over the break-up and sale of De La Rue, the Financial institution of England’s forex printer, is to take the helm on the troubled Scottish broadcaster STV Group.
An announcement may come as quickly because the media group’s half-year outcomes on Thursday, one Metropolis insider mentioned on Wednesday night.
Sources near certainly one of STV’s prime traders mentioned that Mr Whiley had been requested to contemplate taking over the position amid mounting concern over its efficiency.
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He’s anticipated to exchange Paul Reynolds, the previous BT Wholesale chief govt who has chaired STV since 2021.
Shares in STV Group have fallen by greater than 50% over the last 12 months, leaving the corporate with a market capitalisation of little greater than £54m.
The corporate’s largest shareholders embrace Slater Investments and Aberforth Companions.
Mr Whiley stays chairman of Mothercare, the listed retailer, and Griffin Mining, which can also be quoted on the London Inventory Alternate.
Earlier this 12 months, he oversaw the sale of De La Rue’s forex enterprise to Atlas Holdings, a US-based personal fairness investor, for greater than £260m.
Mixed with the proceeds from the sooner sale of its authentication enterprise, the disposals considerably exceeded traders’ expectations.
If confirmed within the STV position as anticipated, Mr Whiley could have one other difficult turnaround job on his palms.
In July, the corporate which holds the ITV licence in elements of Scotland issued a bleak revenue warning, saying that “as a result of a further deterioration in the commissioning and advertising markets towards the end of [the first half of the financial year] and into [the second half], our expectations for full-year revenue and adjusted operating profit are expected to be materially below consensus”.
Rufus Radcliffe, STV’s chief govt, mentioned in the identical assertion: “The deteriorating macroeconomic backdrop continues to lower business confidence impacting both markets in which we operate.
“We’re making good progress in combining and streamlining our Broadcast and Digital companies into a brand new Viewers division, and launch plans for the creation of our radio station are going effectively, with key appointments made and infrastructure plans forging forward.”
He added that its Studios arm’s delivery schedule had been hit by the UK commissioning market, “which has additional weakened on the finish of H1 and into the second half of the 12 months”.
“Nonetheless, along with successful new and repeat enterprise in H1, we now have accomplished manufacturing on key titles with worldwide attraction, together with high-end drama Amadeus for Sky and a 3rd sequence of Blue Lights for BBC One, with the second sequence of The Fortune Lodge airing on ITV and STV this summer season – and our improvement pipeline is robust.”
STV has advanced considerably from its origins within the Nineteen Fifties, having modified its company title on a number of events since.
On Wednesday, the inventory closed at slightly below 112p, down greater than 3% on the day.
A spokesperson for STV declined to remark.
