Johannesburg - Hospitality Property Fund has appointed a new CEO after firing its former head because of a “reportable irregularity”.
The fund says in a statement to shareholders, issued on Tuesday, that it has appointed Vincent Joyner to take over running the company, with effect from today.
Joyner has spent almost 20 years of his career within the Accor hospitality group, with the last six years of his tenure as Accor Group CEO, Southern Africa.
He has worked all over Africa, the UK, US, Switzerland and France and holds a BA (honours) from Galway-Mayo Institute of Technology in Ireland and a joint Masters in International Hospitality Management from Cornell University (US) and ESSEC (France).
Joyner replaces Andrew Rogers, who was dismissed on June 22 after a forensic investigation and a subsequent disciplinary hearing.
At the time, the company announced it brought various charges of misconduct against Rogers. “The independent chairman who presided over the hearing found that Rogers had breached his fiduciary duty of good faith to the company, failed to disclose related-party interests in contracts and was involved in procurement irregularities.”
Hospitality also noted the misconduct did not result in a direct known financial loss to the company. However, an indirect negative impact was felt as a result of the uncertainties created during the suspension period as well as the costs of the investigation, it said.
On Tuesday, the company noted Gerald Nelson, its current acting CEO, will remain in an executive role for a period of time following Joyner’s appointment to facilitate the handover process.
Its board has also appointed Riaan Erasmus as acting CFO, promoting him from group FD.
Hospitality is a specialised Real Estate Investment Trust investing solely in the hospitality and leisure sectors.
In the year to June, it reported rental income growth of 1.8 percent to R434.1 million, noting that a slowdown in the sector had adversely affected its results.
IOL