Gentrack CEO Ian Black resigns days before AGM

Gentrack chief executive Ian Black has resigned. Photo / Supplied

Gentrack Group has announced the departure of chief executive, Ian Black, just three days before its annual general meeting and without explanation.

However, the announcement follows a string of downgrades and missed forecasts dating back to the company's listing in mid-2014, although Black wasn't appointed until January 2016.

Board chair John Clifford will assume the role of executive chairman until the company finds a new chief executive.

The board said it has hired global executive search firm Odgers Berndtson to conduct the search and it will be considering both internal and external candidates.

Black, a former Oracle and SAP executive, replaced the previous chief executive, James Docking.

Gentrack shares fell 0.4 per cent to $2.28 when the market opened and have fallen 55 per cent in the last 12 months.

Gentrack recently hit hard times, as regulated price caps on electricity in the UK and Australia prompted customers to either cut or postpone IT investment, depressing the company's already soft sales projection.

This forced the company to announce its latest earnings downgrade in January when it slashed its earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation forecast by 20 per cent – down to between $8 million and $12m in the year ending Sept. 30, from $24.8m in the 2019 financial year.

In January, responding to analysts who said the company needed to articulate a strategy to win back investors, Black told BusinessDesk the company was focused on "restructuring" its 544 staff and a response to the market difficulties was underway.

"We are working through a process to be able to give more clarity to our shareholders in the market about the changes we are undergoing with staff and the strategic plan revisions, so that we can target our annual meeting with updates – if there are any," he said.

Gentrack will hold its annual meeting in Auckland on Wednesday.