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Southcorp names new CEO
MELBOURNE, Australia (Reuters) -- Australia's largest winemaker Southcorp Ltd has named a former snack foods executive, John Ballard, as its new chief to rescue the company after its shares sank to a six-year low earlier this month. Ballard, 56, succeeds chief executive Keith Lambert who was sacked last month after a bitter wine price war in British supermarkets forced Southcorp, the maker of Penfolds, Lindemans and Rosemount wines, to slash its profit outlook for 2003. Shares in Southcorp rose 0.9 percent to A$3.58 in morning trade Thursday, slightly ahead of the broader market. It hit a six-year low of A$3.05 on March 5. Southcorp highlighted Ballard's expertise in selling Smiths potato chips and other well-known snack foods through several channels while he was managing director of APD/Smith's Snackfoods Company, which then became United Biscuits Asia/Pacific, from 1986 to 1997. "John's knowledge of retail strategy and his relationships with the retail sector will be important attributes in strengthening Southcorp's relationships with our customers and building the strength of our global brands," Southcorp Chairman Brian Finn said in a statement. Ballard, who takes up the top job on April 28, helped build Snackfoods into an "extremely well-run company" that enjoyed a strong market position and good financial performance, Finn said. "It's a benefit that he has come from a fast-moving consumer group. That's got to have some advantages," said Portfolio Partners analyst Chris Williams. "It would have been nice to have someone with experience in the Australian, UK or U.S. wine industry, of course, but it's a fairly tight market in terms of those kinds of people with the experience needed," he said. Southcorp's stock has been on a steady decline since hitting a record high of A$8.38 in August 2001 after it merged with privately owned Rosemount Estates and sold its own manufacturing operations. Brokers from Credit Suisse First Boston to Salomon Smith Barney have sell or underperform ratings on Southcorp amid concerns about the group's ability to improve its margins. Copyright 2003 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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