close
MENU
Hot Topic SCIENCE
Hot Topic SCIENCE
1 mins to read

Paymark boss Mark Rushworth resigns as sales process drags on

General counsel Liam O'Reilly will act in the role until a new head is appointed.

Paul McBeth
Fri, 16 Dec 2016

Paymark chief executive Mark Rushworth has resigned from the electronic payments firm owned by the country's four major banks as the sale process kicked off in February looks set to drag into 2017.

ANZ Bank New Zealand, ASB Bank, Bank of New Zealand and Westpac Banking Corp started a sales process earlier this year but had yet to find a buyer and the process was likely to continue into next year, prompting Mr Rushworth's resignation, chairman Stephen Franks said in a statement.

"That process has unavoidably created some uncertainty in the company," Franks said. "Mr Rushworth and his team have worked with that extra pressure through much of the year."

General counsel Liam O'Reilly will act in the role until a new head is appointed. Mr Rushworth was in charge of the company for three years.

Paymark has more than 75% of the market for electronic point of sale terminals. In 2015 it processed more than 1.2 billion transactions with a value of more than $60 billion. There are 140,000 terminals in New Zealand, with 80,000 merchants using them.

The company lifted its dividend to the Australian-owned banks to $9.4 million in the 2016 year from $6 million, as profit climbed 62% to $19.5 million on a 31% rise in sales to $68.5 million. The shareholders were paid further $7.3 million in dividends.

(BusinessDesk)

Paul McBeth
Fri, 16 Dec 2016
© All content copyright NBR. Do not reproduce in any form without permission, even if you have a paid subscription.
Paymark boss Mark Rushworth resigns as sales process drags on
63916
false