But he quickly decided to go into business, joining a subsidiary of the Hanson conglomerate which, for much of the 1980s, had a reputation as the finishing school for aspiring entrepreneurs. 'That probably stems from the fact that he is a self-made man, who emerged from the Hanson school.'Īs befits the head of a software company, Lomax's background is in engineering and computers: he took a degree in Science Greats at Manchester University and spent some time working in the CAD (computer-aided design) centre at Cambridge University. 'He is very driven,' said one former colleague. It fails to mention it has been out of the index since 2001. He is certainly extremely ambitious: so proud was he of Misys' elevation to the ranks of the FTSE 100 in May 1998 that the company's website still boasts that the group was the first software company to join the index. With 49 of the world's top 50 banks on its client list, Misys should be well-placed to capitalise on that recovery - and it insists that revenues from the new, larger and more complex contracts which it is earning, will come through, albeit rather more slowly than it had hoped.īut some observers claim Lomax has a habit of promising more than he can deliver. Only now is demand finally recovering as banks finally start spending again. Like the rest of the technology industry, Misys ended the last century with a bang as its banking and financial services customers spent billions updating their systems to cope with the advent of the euro and the supposed threat of major systems disruption from the Y2K bug. Its shares are roughly back where they were a decade ago and stand at less than a fifth of their peak value in 2000. Indeed, its profits, before exceptional items and goodwill write-offs, have been falling for five years and, following last week's warnings, look likely to do so for yet one more year. Profits warnings are becoming a bit of a habit for Misys last week's was the third in two years. 'He is not a man who is accustomed to not having his own way.' 'He is very dismissive of the City and financial institutions,' said one adviser who has worked with him. Those who know him well say that is unlikely to worry him. And to follow it with a profits warning is real cheek.' My feeling is that it is symptomatic of the way the organisation is run that he did not think about the negative reaction there would be. One investor called it an 'absolute disgrace. Shareholders could have been forgiven for questioning whether he was worth retaining. It is probably just as well the proposal was withdrawn before it was put to a vote at last Tuesday's annual meeting, otherwise it would have been preceded by the revelation that Martin's banking division was responsible for delays in revenue and increased costs that would result in first-half profits 'significantly below' last year's. After all, Lomax had just spent the best part of six weeks touring the City in a bid to persuade investors that it needed the retention bonuses for Ivan Martin, head of its banking division, and Tom Skelton, who runs the healthcare business, to ensure they did not leave before Lomax relinquished the job of chief executive, an event expected some time in the next three years. Profit warnings are very bad PR at any time, but this one was particularly embarrassing. This, although highly public, was conducted entirely through off-the-record briefings.Īll the more surprising, then, that one analyst, who preferred not to be named, should complain that Lomax is all 'good PR and slick presentation' - there has been little evidence of that this year. There was the shock profits warning, which wiped 16 per cent off the value of its shares the embarrassment of having to concede defeat in a battle with Misys investors over its proposal for retention bonuses to two key executives and the acrimonious battle over who should chair Marks & Spencer, where he is the senior non-executive and head of the nominations committee. That is a pity: it would have been interesting to hear his version of some of the more colourful events with which he has been involved this year. Kevin Lomax, executive chairman of software group Misys, 'doesn't do interviews' say his minders.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |