Cyber-security firm NCC ousts chairman after profit warnings

The troubled cyber-security firm NCC Group (LSE: NCC.L - news) will announce on Thursday that one of the longest-serving chairmen of a listed UK company is stepping down following a pre-Christmas profit alert.

Sky News has learnt that Paul Mitchell, who has chaired NCC (BSE: NCC6.BO - news) since 1999, is to depart in the coming months amid shareholder concerns about the company's performance.

NCC, which counts many of Britain's biggest businesses among its clients, is understood to be planning to announce Mr Mitchell's departure alongside its interim results.

The ousting of the chairman will follow two profit warnings in quick succession during the final quarter of 2016.

In October, NCC said it had seen three major contracts cancelled by customers but that it was too early to assess the financial impact.

Two months later, it updated the stock market by saying it would fail to make up the lost profits in the current financial year.

Mr Mitchell is part of one of the longest-serving double acts among the chairs and chief executives of listed companies.

Rob Cotton, the chief executive, has been in place since 2003.

NCC's shares have performed poorly, having declined by more than one-third during the last year, leaving it with a market value of just over £530m.

One investor said that some shareholders had raised concerns about a potential conflict of interest between Mr Mitchell's role at NCC and his position as senior partner of Rickitt Mitchell, a corporate finance firm which had advised the company on acquisitions.

Analysts believe that NCC is well-placed to exploit the growing demand for cyber-security specialists, with recent attacks at TalkTalk and Tesco Bank among those which have created huge problems for those companies.

NCC's succession plans for the soon-to-be-vacant chairmanship were unclear on Wednesday night.

An NCC spokesman did not respond to a request for comment.