Australian Nine Entertainment CEO Mike Sneesby to step down By Reuters

By Adwitiya Srivastava

(Reuters) – Australian broadcaster Nine Entertainment said on Thursday that chief executive Mike Sneesby will step down effective Sept. 30 and that chief financial and strategy officer Matt Stanton will take over on an interim basis.

The company’s shares fell as much as 4.4 percent to their lowest level since April 27, 2020, and were among the top losers on the benchmark stock index, which was up 0.6 percent at 1237 GMT.

Stanton, who was appointed Nine’s chief financial and strategy officer in August 2023, will take over as interim CEO from 1 October.

Prior to joining Nine, he also held the position of Chief Transformation Officer at Woolworths, one of Australia’s top grocers, among other roles.

“The group needs to engage in cost cutting to maintain profitability in FY25 – the CEO’s additional responsibilities could distract him from cost execution,” said analyst Darren Leung senior research fellow at Macquarie Securities (Australia).

In its recent annual results, Nine reported a 22% drop in net profit after tax and a 3% drop in revenue.

Sneesby was appointed chief executive of Nine in April 2021, and since then the company’s share price has fallen more than 55% by Wednesday’s close.

The CEO change comes months after chairman Peter Costello stepped down and non-executive vice-chairman Catherine West took over.

The company said it will undertake a recruitment process to identify a new CEO.