THE outgoing John Menzies group finance director predicts the business will remain a "strong and stable" fixture of corporate life in Scotland.
Paul Dollman, who ran the business along with two other operational directors rather than there being a traditional chief executive, says he is leaving the venerable Edinburgh company in a strong position and is confident it is in good hands.
It is more than a decade since Mr Dollman joined from drinks company William Grant and he was a key player in the turnaround of the group as its share price plunged in 2008 and into 2009 during the financial crisis.
Mr Dollman described the day in March 2009 when the stock hit a low of 43p as his worst moment on the board at John Menzies.
He mentioned the stock trading at more than 800p earlier this week as his highlight.
He said: "Looking back at the 10 years it has been a massive change to what we do and [John Menzies] has effectively re-invented itself.
"When I joined the aviation business was still quite new. We have gone from a retailer and a wholesaler to a global company with two really strong businesses.
"During the financial crisis things were difficult as we had done some acquisitions and the debt was high but we came through a much stronger business."
John Menzies also gave an update on trading, with its aviation business said to be running ahead of last year.
Mr Dollman, who said his goodbyes to shareholders at the company's annual meeting in Edinburgh yesterday, said: "Trading is bang in line with where we thought it would be.
"The company is in good shape and in a strong position for the future. "
In ground handling, the company's largest division, like-for-like volumes were up 2% and 10% in absolute terms due to new contract wins.
The cargo forwarding arm, AMI, is also up although cargo handling is down 2% on a like-for-like basis and 13% in total following the closures of facilities in Glasgow, Manchester, Birmingham and East Midlands and Chicago, USA.
The distribution business was said to have started the year well although trading was behind the prior year due to tough com-parables due to events such as the Queen's Diamond Jubilee, the Euro 2012 football tournament and the Olympics.
Mr Dollman said newspaper distribution was going well although weekly magazines had been affected by a number of closures in the sector.
The integration of Orbital Marketing business, bought for £13 million in November last year, is "progressing well" while Menzies Marketing Services is also seeing "tangible traction" in the sector.
It was predicted around 15% of earnings before interest and tax in the distribution arm would come from the marketing section.
Mr Dollman, a chartered accountant by trade, said he is now planning the gap year he never had – including playing more golf – before seeking out non-executive director positions.
He said: "There is no rush. I have been working hard for 30 years.
"I have an open mind on opportunities for me. It will really be anything that takes my fancy."
Paula Bell is joining John Menzies as Mr Dollman's replacement.
She moves from multi-industry consultancy Ricardo and has also held senior roles at Rolls-Royce and BAA Gatwick.
Shares in John Menzies closed the day down 29.5p, or 4%, at 762p.
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