Bovis hires ex-Galliford boss Fitzgerald as merger called off

On the day that its merger with Galliford Try was called off, Bovis has appointed its rival's former boss Greg Fitzgerald as its new chief executive.

Fitzgerald, who spent 30 years at Galliford including as CEO and chairman where he drove strong volume growth, will pick up the reins at Bovis from 18 April, with the company saying he had a chance to "further develop" the recently announced strategic plans to deliver better shareholder value.

After new talks with Galliford to assess the merits of its merger proposal, Bovis directors concluded that it failed to reflect the underlying value of the business and so rejected the deal, with Galliford confirming on Wednesday that it has walked away.

Bovis also confirmed that current sales and reservations were in line with internal expectations and that it was making "good progress" with a review of its operational processes and controls under the interim leadership of Earl Sibley, who will now resume his role as finance director.

"In 2017 the group is focused on re-setting the business and driving operational improvements through cost efficiencies, more effective build processes and improvements in quality.

"Following this period of re-setting, we will progress towards delivering the high level of returns embedded in our quality land assets."

Management aim to replenish the land bank during 2017 and then maintain an underlying four-year consented land bank.

Optimising the balance sheet over the next two years is expected to accelerate the group's delivery of an improved return on capital employed, with the sale of shared equity assets, a reduction in part exchange assets, the continuation of land sales and a strategic partnership in Wellingborough, with shareholders in line to receive any excess capital from this and any improved cash generation from operations.