Sappi Limited, the global pulp and paper group, today announced that Mark Thompson, the current Chief Financial Officer, will retire from Sappi in August 2012 having reached the mandatory retirement age of 60. In order to ensure a smooth transition in this important role, Sappi is pleased to announce that Steve Binnie, currently the Chief Financial Officer of Edcon (Pty) Ltd, will join Sappi as CFO-designate on 09 July 2012. He will become CFO and join the Sappi Limited Board as an Executive Director on 01 September 2012.
Steve Binnie (44) has been CFO of Edcon since 2002. Prior to joining Edcon he was Group Financial Manager at Investec Bank Limited and held senior management positions at Transunion ITC and New Zealand Milk Products (SA). He is a Chartered Accountant and holds an MBA from Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh, Scotland.
Commenting on the announcement, Sappi Chief Executive Officer, Ralph Boëttger, said: “I am pleased that we have dealt with the succession of Mark Thompson as CFO in such a timeous manner. Mark has done a sterling job since his appointment in 2006 as CFO and prior to that as Sappi’s Legal Counsel. I am confident that in Steve Binnie we have found a capable and well experienced CFO who will ensure a smooth succession and contribute substantially to the realisation of Sappi’s growth and profitability strategy.”
Additional information on Steve Binnie:
- He holds BComm and BAcc degrees from the University of the Witwatersrand (WITS) in Johannesburg is a chartered accountant, CA(SA)
- holds an MBA from Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh, Scotland
- completed his articles at KPMG
- started his career as Regional Financial Manager of Tanker Services
- became Financial Manager of New Zealand Milk Products (SA) before moving to Transunion ITC as Financial Director
- spent time as Group Financial Manager of Investec Bank Limited
- joined Edcon (Pty) Ltd in 2002 as CFO.
Steve Binnie
André F Oberholzer
Group Head Corporate Affairs