ASX
(ASX:ASX) has named its first female managing director and chief executive officer Helen Lofthouse to start in August after seven years of tenure with the sharemarket operator.
Outgoing chief executive officer Dominic Stevens is set to retire at the start of October and will continue in the role till the end of July. At that point, Mr Stevens will help transition the role to Ms Lofthouse.
Ms Lofthouse has a track record of performance after she headed up the company’s largest revenue generator. The business unit is responsible for cash, derivatives trading, including equities, interest rates, commodities and energy products, and the benchmarks business and international sales.
The incoming chief will be presented with the challenge of its CHESS replacement project which has been extended several times. Ord Minnett noted in May that the company has been criticised for slow rollouts in the past, and could attract the scrutiny of regulators. The worst-case scenario would be a spend of less than $200 million to replace, leading to its hold rating and reducing its price target to $84.41 from $85.
Shares closed at $81.43 yesterday. At time of writing in pre-market, shares are up 1.1 per cent.
