British outsourcing group G4S says its Chief Executive Nick Buckles will step down after a string of high-profile setbacks and a profit warning that damaged investor confidence.
According to Sky News, Buckles, who oversaw a staffing fiasco at the London Olympics last year as well as a failed $8bn takeover of Danish cleaning firm ISS during his eight-year tenure, will step down at the end of May.
Ashley Almanza, who joined the firm as Chief Financial Officer in March from oil and gas firm BG Group, will take over.
Under Buckles’ guidance the company’s share price soared as the world’s biggest security firm expanded into some 125 countries.
But his tenure is likely to be remembered for a succession of incidents that have blighted the group in the past 18 months.
Buckles’ decision in late 2011 to launch a surprise £5.2bn takeover of ISS hit investor confidence severely.
It was eventually abandoned.
Last year, G4S failed to provide sufficient security guard numbers for the London Olympics, prompting the army to step in.
Analysts speculated on Buckles’ possible exit earlier in May when the firm warned that 2013 profits would be lower than expected due to a shake-up of the prison system in the Netherlands and problem clients in Africa, sending the shares down 14 percent.
The Ministry of Justice is also now investigating whether it was overcharged by G4S and rival outsourcing firm Serco on its contract to monitor offenders released from prison.
G4S’s Olympics failure saw Mr Buckles hauled before MPs, during which he admitted it was a “humiliating shambles for the company”.
Extra military personnel had to be called in to fill the gap left by G4S’s failure to supply enough staff for the £284m contract.
Chief Operating Officer David Taylor-Smith and Ian Horseman Sewell, who was head of global events, carried the can for the fiasco, but Mr Buckles stayed in his post.
However, pressure has intensified on Mr Buckles in recent weeks, after a poor trading update caused shares to slump by more than 13% in one day.
G4S disappointed investors by revealing that weak European markets and pricing pressure on its cash transportation arm in the UK and Ireland had squeezed margins.
Mr Buckles will walk away with his contractual entitlement to a year’s salary of £830,000 and a pension allowance of £332,000.
G4S is the largest employer on the London Stock Exchange with more than 620,000 staff worldwide.
Chairman John Connolly said: “Nick Buckles made a massive contribution to the group over a 28-year career.
“As chief executive he led G4S in the creation of significant shareholder value following the merger of Securicor and Group 4 Falck – building the world’s leading security company.”
Mr Buckles was appointed Chief Executive of Securicor in 2002 before taking the top role in the newly created G4S business.
Shares rose 3% following the announcement.