- For more financial news, go to the News24 Business front page.
Bell Equipment, which makes and sells heavy machinery such as dump trucks and forklifts, said on Monday CEO Leon Goosen is set to step down at the end of the year in order to pursue another opportunity.
Goosen joined Bell's board in January 2009 and was the chief operations officer from December 2014 until he was appointed as the CEO in 2018. He took over from long-serving CEO Gary Bell, who shifted to chairperson.
Valued at about R1.4 billion on the JSE, Bell has manufacturing operations in SA and Germany, but operates globally, with machines in over 80 countries.
The group has said recently it is enjoying the benefits of a record order book, and was even taking orders for 2024. However, given the fallout from load shedding, it has been investigating increasing manufacturing in its German factory, sourcing of fabrications from outside of South Africa, as well as a solar system for its Richard's Bay factory.
Shares in Bell were down about 1.7% on Monday afternoon, unchanged after the announcement, having risen by more than a fifth over the past one year.