MANAGING DIRECTOR AND CEO
Tabcorp
POWER SCORE: 1,129
POSITION LAST YEAR: 26
CLAIMS TO FAME
- Almost 30 years of industry experience in England, South Africa and Australia
- Heads Australia’s biggest racing and wagering company
Any hopes David Attenborough had of drifting off quietly into the sunset have certainly been dashed on the back of COVID-19.
In July, Attenborough – who took on the role of Tabcorp CEO in April 2010 – announced plans to depart the Australian racing and wagering giant in early 2021, citing the culmination of the company’s AU$11 billion (US$7.85 billion) merger with Tatts Group as the catalyst for his decision.
“The combination with Tatts is now largely complete and, as such, now is the right time to start the process to appoint the next CEO who can work with the board and management team to take the company forward,” he said at the time.
But until then Attenborough has his work cut out for him steadying the ship given the unexpected challenges posed by COVID-19.
Tabcorp reported a loss of AU$870 million (US$625 million) for the year ended 30 June 2020 on the back of goodwill impairment charges of AU$1.09 billion (US$783 million), which it said were the result of various COVID-19 related assumptions. These included the direct impact of COVID-19 safety measures implemented by federal and state governments, possible acceleration of retail contraction and uncertainty on the potential longer-term impacts as a result of the pandemic, increased competition and a potential decline in consumer confidence and increased economic uncertainty.
But impairment aside, Tabcorp’s FY20 results were respectable at least, with revenue down just 4.8% group-wide to AU$5.22 billion (US$3.75 billion) and EBITDA by 11.5% to AU$995 million (US$715 million).
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