Software exec to head ITV finance

ITV in the UK has appointed a chief financial officer ahead of the retirement of its chief operating officer and group finance director Ian Griffiths.

ITV CEO Carolyn McCall

Chris Kennedy, currently CFO at software business Micro Focus International, is expected to join ITV on February 1 next year and will receive an annual salary of £660,000 (US$859,000).

It comes after Griffiths announced earlier this year that he would be retiring from the UK commercial broadcaster. He will support the handover to Kennedy and will step down from the ITV board in December 2018, before formally leaving the company at the end of next March.

Former EMI exec Kennedy, also a non-executive director of UK hospitality company Whitbread, joined Micro Focus International in January this year.

Prior to that, he was CFO at Arm Holdings, where he was a key player in the £24bn sale of the technology firm to SoftBank, described as one of the largest ever UK takeovers.

Before that, Kennedy was CFO at EasyJet from 2010 to 2015, during which time the airline’s share price quadrupled, dividend payments were introduced and the company joined the FTSE 100.

The move reunites Kennedy with ITV CEO Carolyn McCall, who had been atop the budget airline since 2010 before joining ITV at the beginning of this year.

“Chris was the standout candidate in a very strong shortlist, and the board are really pleased that he will bring his experience and expertise to ITV. He has a great media background from his 17 years at EMI and he has built on that as a CFO of three FTSE 100 companies,” said ITV chairman Sir Peter Bazalgette.

McCall added: “I am really pleased to be working with Chris again as CFO. He will play a huge role in helping us deliver our new More Than TV strategy and I know he will work really well with the senior leadership team of ITV.”

ITV is set to launch an SVoD service next year showcasing “British-originated quality content.” It has also been pursuing an accretive M&A policy in recent years, building up a large roster of production companies on both sides of the Atlantic.

However, it chose not to bid for production giant Endemol Shine Group, with McCall telling C21 last month that “the timing didn’t feel right.”