As founder Russell Tate retires, STW looks ahead to ‘challenging’ year end

As Russell Tate called time on his stint on the board of STW Group at an annual general meeting yesterday, the marketing communications group signaled its intention to keep profits high, grow digital revenue and expand by acquisition.

STW’s chief executive Mike Connaghan (pictured) told Mumbrella that the company’s predictions made in February that net profit margins for 2011 would be 5-10% higher than in 2010 were on track, but admitted that this would be “challenging” to sustain.

In the AGM report, the Queensland floods, the earthquake in Christchurch, events in Japan and subdued consumer sentiment in Australia and New Zealand were identified as obstacles to STW hitting its targets.

STW would be looking to grow by acquisition in the digital, research, CRM and field marketing spaces, Connaghan said.