New Xchanging boss aims for more 'transparency'

The interim boss of troubled outsourcer Xchanging today heralded a new culture of transparency at the firm, admitting that its business had become "inherently complex".

Sparse stock market updates meant analysts looking at Xchanging were forced to delve through its filings at Companies House after it announced a £112 million writedown and a profits warning two weeks ago.

Founder and chief executive David Andrews then quit and some £100 million was wiped off its shares.

Today, asked whether the company had been open enough, acting boss and finance director Ken Lever admitted: "The business' inherent complexity means it is quite a difficult thing to understand and present. The accounting world is not getting any simpler either. But we're bringing in a lot more transparency, including about the way the business operates and its prospects."

However, today Xchanging posted an extraordinarily complex set of figures, including four measures of profitability. It made a statutory loss of £55.6 million in 2010, down from a £22.7 million profit the year before.

Lever said the firm was slashing up to £20 million off its costs by shifting work overseas, "rationalising our space requirements in the UK" and firing staff.

He is also looking at selling off parts of the business, especially in the US.

"It's about going back to basics," Lever said.

"There was a conscious effort to put in place a platform for significant revenue growth, but that hasn't materialised."