Ex-CBA boss Ian Narev to steer Seek as CEO Andrew Bassat steps down

Ian Narev will step up as CEO from July, navigating the turmoil of Covid, as Andrew Bassat focuses on private interests.

Ian Narev, right, said he would not try to fill the shoes of departing CEO Andrew Bassat, left.

Former Commonwealth Bank chief executive Ian Narev confesses to have learnt plenty from his days at the bank, both successes and mistakes, and is promising to employ a new range of leadership skills on his return to the ranks of Australia’s chief executives when he takes on the role at Seek.

Top of his mind is more consultation, less rush to judgment and a goal to tune in to the core messages from those who will be working for him even when that is delivered in a critical manner.

And he will need to. His appointment to the $10bn jobs search group comes at a turning point in its 24 year history where it is planning a split into a core jobs business and an investment arm, execute a $600m sell down of a major stake in Chinese employment company Zhaopin and navigate the broader economic challenges of COVID-19.

There is also plenty of ego at stake and a reputation to resurrect. Mr Narev becomes the first ex-CEO of the ‘big four’ banks forced to step down under the intense scrutiny and scandal of the Royal Commission into financial services to reclaim the CEO suite, with his other contemporaries at National Australia Bank and Westpac yet to resurface.

“I was appointed CEO of CBA in July 2011, so that is almost ten years ago, and I have learned a lot in those ten years, from some successes and definitely from some mistakes,” Mr Narev told The Australian.

“All I can do is focus now on making sure that as a leader I’m doing the best I can, I’m learning the lessons that I have learnt, I’m focused on helping build the company and making sure that you really think a lot about all your experiences - good experiences, bad experiences and including the stuff that came up in the Royal Commission.

“That is certainly where my head is at.”

The one-time boss of Australia’s biggest bank, CBA, Mr Narev had his departure from the bank brought forward to 2018 when Austrac levelled a series of stinging allegations against the bank for serious breaches of anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing. CBA later paid a record $700m penalty to settle the matter.

Now Mr Narev will take the reins of Seek from co-founder and current CEO Andrew Bassat in July with the ex-banker imbibing the Seek culture since 2019 when he was made chief operating officer.

“I would actually say from the experience I have had and also frankly from working alongside Andrew and what he does as a founder of a business, just this idea of saying look be really focused on the long term of the business, make all the investments you need for success for the long term.

“Which I hope is consistent with the way I used to think anyway. I think be really careful that you are listening to everything that is going on around you, not making you mind up on the pros and cons of things too hard and even when you are being sharply criticised listen carefully to the core of what people are saying.”

Under the leadership transition, Mr Basset will become executive chairman and CEO of Seek offshoot Seek Investments although he remains a director of Seek and a major shareholder of this business he founded with his brother Paul.

Mr Narev said on the other side of the ledger there were the many positive aspects of his time at CBA that he would draw on for his new role at Seek including heavy and consistent investment in technologies and people to deliver long term rewards.

He comes to the CEO role at a time when Seek looks to have traded through the COVID-19 pandemic better than expected, with the jobs business posting its first-half results on Tuesday that revealed an 8 per cent fall in net profit to $69.7m as revenue for the period fell 7 per cent to $826m.

The interim dividend was skipped but the board is planning to recommence payment of dividends for the full year, and this will be partly fuelled by a decision also announced on Tuesday that Seek plans to sell down its large stake in Zhaopin.

Seek said it is in discussions with a consortium to sell down its holding in Zhaopin from 61 per cent to 23.5 per cent, a sale which values the entire Zhaopin business at around $2.2bn with Seek to generate more than $600m from its possible sale. Last year Zhaopin was the target of a short report from activist firm Blue Orca which levelled a number of allegations at the firm including exaggerating its financial performance.

Seek posted pre-tax earnings of $246m, flat with last year, despite COVID-19.

The company said that year to date results and improved momentum had led it to upgrade fiscal 2021 guidance as key components of the business performed better than expected. Seek is now forecasting full-year revenue of $1.7bn and EBITDA around $460m, with a net profit of around $100m.

The company is also investigating a split of its businesses between Seek Asia, Pacific and the Americas and its Seek Investments arm which will act as a more aggressive venture capital and investment firm but remain under the Seek corporate roof.

Shares in Seek ended down $2.15 at $28.19.

Outgoing Seek CEO Andrew Bassat. Picture: Aaron Francis