After months of speculation and delays, South Africa named Andre de Ruyter as chief executive officer of its debt-crippled state power utility, surprising investors with an unexpected choice and angering a key union.
De Ruyter, 51, has considerable corporate experience in the country, though
not at state-owned companies. His appointment comes at a time when Eskom Holdings SOC Ltd. is undergoing a transformation that will require technical and financial knowledge as well as an ability to deal with the government and labor unions.
The appointee, currently CEO of packaging firm Nampak Ltd., will take up the post on Jan. 15, the Department of Public Enterprises said in a statement Monday. The state-owned power company has been looking for a new CEO since Phakamani Hadebe in July became the 10th person to vacate the post in as many years.
“The market is going to have to know him better and understand what qualities he is to bring to the table,” said Jones Gondo, a credit research analyst at Nedbank Group Ltd. in Johannesburg. “The market had not anticipated him to be one of the slated candidates. At least now we can possibly move on to the substantive issues.”
Yields Rise
The 2028 yields climbed five basis points on Tuesday to 7.09%, the highest on a closing basis since Sept. 12, after rising nine basis points yesterday. Its 2021 debt jumped 20 basis points to 5.35% on Tuesday morning.
The loss-making utility has 450 billion rand ($30 billion) of debt and is struggling to fix aging power stations and correct defects at new ones. Saving the business is a key goal of the government, which is sustaining it with 138 billion rand of bailouts over the next three years alone.
The government had shortlisted three candidates for the position of CEO, including former LNG Canada CEO Andy Calitz and Jacob Maroga, who was Eskom CEO from 2007 to 2009. Media speculation about who the third person was didn’t include De Ruyter, who may face push back from labor unions that would have preferred a black candidate.
“It is a surprise to me, his name was never mentioned,” said David Shapiro, deputy chairman of Sasfin Securities Ltd. in Johannesburg. “Let’s hope he has the courage to do what he has to at Eskom.”
De Ruyter has served as Nampak CEO since 2014. His role overlapped with Finance Minister Tito Mboweni’s chairmanship of the company, which began in 2010 and ended in 2018.
- Bloomberg
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