A new chairman and £15 million–worth of increased bank funding have been announced by Torex plc, as it moves to get back on track following its recent well-publicised problems.
Steve Marshall has been appointed to the main board with immediate effect as non-executive chairman. Marshall was formerly CEO of both Railtrack plc and Thorn plc, having also been group finance director at both companies. He is currently non-executive chairman of Delta plc and a non-executive director of Balfour Beatty plc and Southern Water Services Ltd. He was also executive chairman of Queens Moat Houses PLC.
The appointment follows those of Keith Taylor as acting chief executive officer and Iain Lynam as chief restructuring officer.
Meanwhile the Torex syndicate of banks has agreed to provide the requested additional short-term working capital facility of £15m. A statement from the board said it considered this would be sufficient to meet the company’s short-term working capital requirements. The £15m is in addition to the company’s existing total banking facilities of £152.5m comprising term loans and overdraft facilities.
It also said the company expects to enter into further discussions with its bankers with respect to its medium to long term financing requirements in the next few months, when the company has finalised results for the financial year ended December 31, 2006 and has an up-to-date view of the 2007/2008 trading prospects.
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