(Alliance News) - CentralNic Group PLC on Monday promoted Chief Financial Officer Michael Riedl to chief executive officer with immediate effect, and announced a maiden share buyback.

The web domain and internet services provider said the appointment comes as CEO Ben Crawford retires from the board on Monday. Crawford was appointed CEO in 2009, and during his tenure, revenue grew from USD2 million to USD700 million.

Riedl was named CFO in 2019. The company said he has "strong financial and operational experience" with a "wide and in-depth knowledge of the company's markets as a whole".

CentralNic added that William Green, CentralNic's financial director, will replace Riedl as the new CFO, initially in a non-board capacity.

Chair Iain McDonald said: "Michael has brought a wealth of industry experience and excellent strategic and leadership skills to CentralNic, and I am delighted that he will be our new chief executive officer. He has impressed the board with the impact he has made over the last four years, where he has brought clarity, structure and focus, with the combination of skills and experience to lead the business through its next strategic phase."

He added: "We congratulate Billy Green, a well proven member of CentralNic's senior leadership team, on his appointment as CFO."

CentralNic said it made these changes from a "position of strength". It said its trading has remained robust since its last update in November.

It now expects its full-year results to be at the upper end of market expectations. The company placed market expectations for revenue between USD701.0 million and USD709.6 million. For earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation, it placed consensus between USD80.0 million and USD84.1 million.

CentralNic also announced that it intends to launch a maiden share buyback before the end of the year. It will give details shortly.

Shares were up 3.4% at 135.50 pence each on Monday morning in London.

By Xindi Wei, Alliance News reporter

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