Chantale Millard has been appointed CEO of Longtable Group. Her appointment follows the resignation of Laura McBain, CFO Michael Caragounis and the retirement of chair Tony Robinson in the last five weeks.
Millard had been acting in the role since Laura McBain stood down on 30 October.
The announcement came on 2 December after the company had advised the ASX (on 29 November) its chair, Tony Robinson was retiring.
McBain resigned as MD and CEO as well as from the Board with immediate effect in October. She said she loved the portfolio of premium food and dairy brands Longtable had developed. “We have successfully turned around the performance of Maggie Beer Products as well as progressed the turnaround of Paris Creek Farms and are pursuing exciting growth opportunities at Saint David Dairy,” she said.
McBain said the company was “in good shape” and she would now be considering career opportunities with larger enterprises.
Millard had been CEO - South Australia for the company, managing Maggie Beer Products (since May 2016) and Paris Creek Farms (since May 2019).
Longtable’s CFO has also resigned. Michael Caragounis announced his resignation on 27 November and will leave the business at the end of January 2020. Caragounis will not be replaced, with the current group financial controller Yann Hessel assuming higher level responsibilities.
The company acquired 100 per cent of Maggie Beer Products in April. It also owns Paris Creek and Saint David Dairy.
It was a mixed year for the premium foods company. Paris Creek posted a normalised EBITDA loss of $4 million, which resulted in an impairment to goodwill of $15.2million. At its AGM on 29 November, Millard said a business restructure implemented at the end of FY19 would have a positive impact in FY20.
It said its turnaround of Paris Creek Farms was continuing with a cost-out strategy, improved manufacturing efficiencies and increased sales. Sales in Q1FY20 were up 12 per cent on Q1FY19 and it was on track to reach its goal of a positive EBITDA by the end of this financial year. It has developed a nutritionally enhanced milk for children than will be launched early in the near year. It will be the world’s first nutritionally enhanced biodynamic organic milk, the company said.
In a bid for further savings, the company will be downsizing its officers to a smaller office in Melbourne's CBD or on the city fringes, saving it $1.6-1.8 million a year.
FY20 would see new export opportunities for Paris Creek Farms and Maggie Beer Products become a focus, Millard said at the AGM.
