Beck to step down from Datalex

Travel software group Datalex announced yesterday that its chief executive, Mr Neil Beck,intends to step down from his post as soon as the company can find a replacement.

Mr Beck, who has been with the Dublin-listed company since May 2001, said yesterday that he had committed to Datalex for three years. He pointed out that as that period was nearly up, he wanted to give the board as much time as possible to find a successor.

He said he was leaving the company for personal reasons. Mr Beck has been commuting between the US and Ireland since he joined Datalex. His family is based full-time in the US, and he wants to return to live there permanently.

Neither he nor the company gave an exact timetable for his departure. A spokesman said that Mr Beck would leave as soon as a successor was in place. The spokesman pointed out that the chief executive's commitment to stay for three years was not contractually binding.

In a statement, Datalex said the board had begun the search for a suitable successor, and would be making a further announcement in due course. "The board of directors wishes to thank Mr Beck for successfully steering the company through a period of sustained economic weakness in the travel sector globally," the statement said.

Datalex produces software that allows customers to book flights, accommodation and other travel services online. It licenses this to customers like airlines and travel agents. This year it made deals to supply Aer Lingus, Emirates Air and Dutch flag-carrier KLM with its products.

Mr Beck was originally appointed as chief operating officer, but took over as chief executive officer in September 2001, the beginning of a global downturn in the travel industry sparked by the World Trade Centre attacks. Datalex laid off 212 people, almost half its workforce, that year.

This year, a combination of the SARS epidemic and the war on Iraq dashed Datalex management hopes that the company would break even this year. However, when it posted half-year results showing pre-tax losses had more than halved to $5.6 million (€5.1 million at the time) from $12 million in 2002, analysts began to speculate the worst was over.

The company is now thought likely to move into profit early next year. Last month, its founder and former chief executive, Mr Neil Wilson, sold €855,000 worth of shares in the company. He said at the time that he was acting on the advice of his investment managers.

Mr Dermot Desmond's International Investment and Underwriting (IIU) vehicle bought into Datalex through another company, Bottin Investments, earlier this year at 37 cents a share. He now holds 13.3 per cent of the company. Datalex is listed on the Irish Stock Exchange and also trades on the over-the-counter (OTC) market in the US.