African Barrick Gold appoints Andrew Wray as finance chief
AFRICAN Barrick Gold, the struggling FTSE 250-listed miner with a revolving-door management team of late, yesterday said it has hired insider Andrew Wray as its permanent chief financial officer.
Wray joined the firm as head of corporate development and investor relations in 2010 and replaces interim chief financial officer Jaco Maritz, who will revert to his role as vice president of finance.
Wray’s appointment will give some stability to the team, following last week’s departure of chief operating officer Marco Zolezzi and the arrival of new chief executive Brad Gordon just a month ago.
Wray spent over 13 years at JP Morgan Cazenove, where he worked on the Tanzania-focused miner’s flotation back in 2010 prior to moving to African Barrick Gold.
Cailey Barker, analyst at Numis, told City A.M. it was unlikely Wray’s appointment would cheer investors as the company’s problems lie on the operational side. “The finances have always been in pretty good shape, so I don’t think this will make much difference to market sentiment,” he said. “Everyone is waiting for the appointment of the new chief operating officer.”
The US Federal Reserve’s decision not to taper quantitative easing yet caused the gold price to rise sharply yesterday. African Barrick Gold’s share price surged over 14 per cent due to its exposure to the precious metal, before closing 15.4 per cent higher at 156.70p.