Auto Trader’s finance head to become new CEO in management change around.
Auto Trader the online market place announced in a recent interview that it plans to shake things up with the board members, after the recent retirement of Trevor Mather. The online automotive market place said this week that its Chief Financial officer will be the man to take the helm of the company starting on Wednesday. Nathan Coe COO and CFO will step up to take the lead of the company alongside Mather during the handover process. Coe who joined Auto Trader in early 2007 to oversee the company’s transition from magazine to digital company will not only become the CEO but will also retain his current responsibilities for finance. The latest news that Mr. Mather is stepping down next march has been a shock to shareholders of the digital marketplace said analyst AJ bell, who added in a recent note to investors that Mather had been at the forefront of turning Auto Trader into a “truly New media company”.
The company’s current plans to move forward mean that it is highly unlikely that the strategies they have in place are going to change, the challenge that Mr. Coe is facing will be to continue on the positive path that has been set and to increase earnings in a market that seems to be relatively stale. Starting on Wednesday Mr. Coe’s deputy of finance will step in to become a far more active member of the financial team, officially titled CFO. He will not yet be joining the board of directors, however Catherine Faiers the operations director for Auto Trader will be as COO. Auto Trader, the group that is behind the largest and broadest UK based car classifieds website was listed on the London stock exchange in early 2015. At launch it was priced at 235 pence per share giving the online marketplace a market capitalization of 2.35 Billion Pounds. The company who started out as a magazine product for used and new car sales, closed the printing side of the business in 2013, and then transformed into the new modern online market place for second hand and new vehicles. Most recently the company joined the FTSE 100 in the final quarter of last year trading 0.7 per cent down in London at 575.8 pence per share.
Christine Reynolds – AMT Associates