Cengage c.f.o. John Leahy to stand down

John Leahy, executive vice president and chief financial officer at Cengage, is to step down at the end of the year, the company has said.

The planned departure will come “after helping to ensure a smooth transition of his responsibilities to his successor,” with the recruitment process set to commence shortly.

Cengage said: "The c.f.o. transition is aligned with the Company’s strategic focus on executing a digital business transformation. Mr Leahy has served as the Company’s chief financial officer since December 2014, during which time Mr Leahy transformed the Company’s finance organization, created significant savings for the Company, and spearheaded the re-financing of the Company’s debt on favourable terms.”

Earlier this month, Cengage reported 2016 revenues of $1.5bn for the fiscal year 2017, down 10% from the prior year, with adjusted EBITDA down 20% at $353m, with c.e.o. Michael Hansen citing "significant volatility" in the Higher Education sector as one of the contributing factors.