IMI well ahead, names new chairman

6th May 2011 08:23

Roberto Quarta, currently chairman of Rexel SA, is to take over as chairman of international engineering group IMI when the current incumbent, Norman Askew, retires from the board at the end of October.Quarta, who is also chairman of Clayton, Dubilier & Rice, Europe and a non-executive director of BAE Systems, will join the IMI board as a non-executive director on 1 June. "Roberto has a wealth of experience in the engineering sector and a strong track record of leading large international companies," said Martin Lamb, chief executive of IMI.In a separate statement the company said revenues in the first four months of 2011 were up 10% on a year earlier on a reported basis, or 6% higher on an organic basis."Overall we expect results in the first half of the year to be well ahead of the same period last year and we remain confident that the group will continue to make good progress in 2011," the company said.Net debt at the end of the first half, which is traditionally seasonally weaker from a cash generation perspective, is expected to be little changed from the year-end position. ---jh