New FD Denise Moodley takes over from Saket Mohta, who is Bata’s new AME regional FD.
Bata South Africa appointed Denise Moodley as its first-ever woman finance director in April.
About her appointment, Denise said:
“I’m very excited to be joining the team, and to work with them behind the scenes to create some of the country’s favourite shoes.”
Denise takes over from Saket Mohta, who has been promoted to FD of the Bata Group’s Africa and Middle East region. “I’ll be building on the solid foundation that Saket has laid for me, and aim to bring my experience in the manufacturing and retail industries to help grow Bata South Africa further,” she added.
She joins the company from Africa Sun Oil Group, where she served as group finance manager for three years. Before that, she served in various management positions at Kwaden Group, including master data team lead, financial manager, as well as acting financial manager and brands management accountant for its Imana Foods SA division.
Saket to lead growth in Africa
Saket explained that he is proud to continue his journey with Bata South Africa, and to leverage the experience he has gained in the Southern African market to drive the business goals in the Africa and Middle East region.
“When I landed in South Africa just as the pandemic hit, I knew that I had my work cut out for me with many challenges ahead. But with a very supportive team, we managed to sustain the business during a very difficult economic time, and we are looking forward to the new challenge of expanding our Bata business beyond Africa.”
The announcement forms part of the company’s first step of its 2023 to 2027 strategy, which will see it pursuing “vigorous expansion and distribution” of some of its global sneaker, comfort and outdoor shoe labels to “complement local manufacturing”.
Saket has been with the company since January 2014, serving as vice president of Bata India for six years before coming to South Africa as the region’s CFO in 2020, preparing him for his new role.
“Saket has been instrumental in the implementation of strategies that have now set Bata South Africa on an upward trajectory, with major plans to expand our footprint on the continent,” said Bata South Africa’s country manager Michael Wyatt. “We are grateful for his contributions and wish him well in his new role.”
