Amstrad top job for Philips chief

AMSTRAD, Alan Sugar's consumer electronics group, has appointed David Rogers as its chief executive, writes Mary Fagan. Mr Rogers, 47, is a senior figure with Philips of the Netherlands as chief executive of Philips Advanced Communications Enterprise, which aims to combine personal communications technologies with computing. He will join Amstrad in August.

Mr Rogers' career includes stints at Plessey, GEC and Black & Decker. A spokesman for Amstrad said: 'We picked him for his experience, not his star quality. He has experience in businesses similar to our own.'

Amstrad also valued Mr Rogers' familiarity with markets in Continental Europe, the US and the Far East. Analysts say the chief executive needs to have enough vision to produce new product winners for the company.

Last September Alan Sugar, chairman, decided to split his dual role. He was overwhelmed with applications for a chief executive but said no one had demonstrated the necessary skills. He was prepared to step down as chairman in order to attract the right person.

In the first half of the year, Amstrad's profits fell from pounds 5.6m to pounds 1.7m because of price-cutting in the industry and falling demand. Mr Sugar warned that margins were under pressure because of over-supply and said the company could make a loss in the full year.