Ventia Services Group Ltd (ASX: VNT) shares are climbing on Thursday after the company announced a leadership change at the top.
At the time of writing, the Ventia share price is up 0.89% to $6.75.
The stock is now trading close to record highs, with Ventia shares up around 13% since the start of 2026 and 34% higher than this time last year.
Here's what the company told the market today.
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Ventia names its next CEO
According to the release, Ventia has appointed Mark Ralston as its next Managing Director and Group Chief Executive Officer.
Ralston will replace current Managing Director and Group CEO Dean Banks, with the change to take effect on 1 September 2026.
The company said the appointment follows a detailed internal and external succession process.
Ralston is already well known inside the business, having spent 12 years at Ventia. Over that time, he has held senior roles across enterprise strategy, mergers and acquisitions, telecommunications, and, more recently, defence and social infrastructure.
Ventia said Ralston will work closely with Banks over the coming months to support a smooth handover.
Chairman David Moffatt said Ralston has a deep understanding of Ventia's business, customers, and markets, and has made a strong contribution to the company's performance and strategy.
Ralston said he was honoured to lead Ventia and pointed to the company's "strong business, clear strategy and talented team".
What does Ventia actually do?
Ventia provides infrastructure services across Australia and New Zealand.
Its work covers areas such as defence, water, power, gas, transport, telecommunications, resources, and social infrastructure.
That includes maintaining defence bases, looking after roads and transport networks, supporting utilities, managing facilities, and providing services for government and large corporate customers.
Importantly, this gives Ventia a broad contract base across parts of the economy where maintenance and service work doesn't just disappear when market conditions get tougher.
The business also has plenty of scale, with more than 35,000 employees and subcontractors working across more than 400 sites.
Keeping things steady
Leadership changes can sometimes make investors nervous, especially when a long-serving CEO is moving on.
But today's share price reaction suggests the market is comfortable with the choice.
That is likely because Ralston is already well known inside the business. He has been involved with Ventia for more than a decade and has held roles across several parts of the group.
And the company's recent share price performance also helps. Ventia has had a strong year, and the market appears comfortable with the stock moving into its next leadership phase.
