- Colm Howlin will step down as Chief Financial Officer (CFO) and Director of Serabi Gold effective August 28, 2026, after 13 years with the company.
- Nick Box, a finance executive with 20 years of experience in the extractive industries, has been appointed Interim CFO effective the same date.
- Box will not join the Board and will work alongside the Board and finance team while Serabi searches for a permanent successor.
- Box’s background spans senior finance roles at Harbor Energy, ACG Metals, and SDX Energy, covering treasury, mergers and acquisitions (M&A), and investor relations.
- Serabi’s unaudited interim financial statements for the six months ended June 30, 2026, are due before September 30, 2026, under AIM Rules.
Why the CFO Change Matters Now
Serabi Gold plc (AIM: SRB | TSX: SBI | OTCQX: SRBIF) is changing its Chief Financial Officer (CFO) effective August 28, 2026, with unaudited interim financial statements for the six months ended June 30, 2026 due before September 30, 2026. The change also lands while two capital programs are running simultaneously rather than in sequence: a plant expansion at the Palito Complex and a transition of Coringa to mechanized sublevel stoping, alongside a pending licensing decision that underpins the Company’s full-year 2026 production guidance. Serabi held $65.7 million in cash and no debt as of June 30, 2026, and Coringa currently operates under a 3-year GUIA license that expires on January 29, 2027, with the company’s production guidance assuming the full mining license is awarded by the fourth quarter of 2026.
A CFO transition during a period of concurrent capital programs carries different execution risk than one occurring during a steady-state operating year: the incoming finance leadership inherits the reporting calendar for two live capital projects at once, not one, along with the task of explaining that combined program to the market without disruption. That is the context in which Nick Box’s appointment as Interim CFO should be read, as a test of whether Serabi’s finance function can absorb a leadership change without losing continuity in execution.
What Nick Box Brings and What Changes from Colm Howlin’s Tenure
Box’s career has been built almost entirely within extractive-industry finance, and each prior role maps to a specific capability that Serabi’s current stage requires. As Vice President, Investor Relations at Harbor Energy plc, a FTSE 250 oil and gas group, Box held a role focused on external market communication, relevant to a company managing investor expectations across two concurrent development programs. As Acting CFO at ACG Acquisition Company Limited, a special purpose acquisition company pursuing critical minerals mining assets, Box held a finance leadership role within a critical minerals-focused vehicle. As CFO at SDX Energy plc, an AIM and TSX Venture Exchange-listed oil and gas exploration and production company, Box held the top financial leadership role. He began his career at PwC working with metals and mining clients and is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales. Across these roles, his collective experience spans financial and ESG reporting, business planning and analysis, treasury, systems and controls, investor relations, and corporate finance, including mergers and acquisitions (M&A), the mix of capabilities named in Serabi’s own appointment announcement.
Colm Howlin’s departure removes a different asset from the finance function than Box’s arrival adds. He joined Serabi in 2013 and, over 13 years, contributed to building the Group’s financial systems, budgeting process, and reporting discipline, the specific institutional knowledge an interim appointment cannot carry over. That is part of why the structure Serabi has chosen is notable: Box will not be appointed to the Board, and the company has stated explicitly that a search for a permanent CFO is already underway, a combination that points toward a bridging appointment rather than a signal that Serabi intends to run its finance function without board-level CFO representation on an ongoing basis.
If the permanent hire shares Box’s mix of treasury, M&A, and investor relations experience, it would indicate that Serabi wants a finance leader capable of managing multiple concurrent capital programs and market communications at scale. If the permanent hire instead resembles Howlin’s profile, built over years within the company’s own reporting systems, that would indicate Serabi is prioritizing continuity of internal processes over outside capital-markets experience. Either outcome is a legitimate choice, but the two point toward different models of financial leadership, and the eventual appointment will reveal which one the Board has chosen.
The First Test Is Execution, Not the Appointment
The appointment itself changes nothing about Serabi’s production, permitting, or cash position. What it tests is whether the finance function can maintain reporting continuity and capital allocation discipline through the handover, starting with the interim results.
Chairman of Serabi Gold, Michael Lynch Bell, addressed both sides of the transition in the company’s announcement:
“The Board conveys its thanks to Colm for his 13 years of service to Serabi, during which time he has been a dedicated and committed employee. The Board wishes him every success in his future endeavors. We look forward to working with Nick over the coming months while we search for a permanent Chief Financial Officer.”
Investors have three concrete signals to track from here. First, whether the interim financial statements land on schedule and without disruption to the reporting process Howlin built. Second, the outcome and timing of the permanent CFO search, and whether the eventual hire’s background resembles Box’s or Howlin’s. Third, how capital allocation across the Palito expansion and Coringa transition is communicated to the market during the interim period, given that both programs will continue regardless of who holds the CFO title.
The Investment Thesis for Serabi Gold
- Financial leadership continuity carries more weight as capital allocation complexity increases across two concurrent development programs.
- An incoming finance executive with treasury, mergers and acquisitions, and investor relations experience across extractive industry companies is well suited to a business managing multiple funding and reporting obligations simultaneously.
- An interim structure that excludes board membership signals a bridging function rather than a permanent capital allocation mandate.
- The transition is a test of institutional continuity that is separate from, and does not itself alter, operational performance.
- The eventual profile of the permanent Chief Financial Officer will signal the kind of financial leadership the company believes its next stage of growth requires.
The CFO transition is less about a change in Serabi’s underlying investment case than about whether the company can preserve financial and reporting discipline while its growth plans become more complex. Box brings relevant experience in external capital markets and extractive industries, while the loss of Howlin creates an unavoidable gap in institutional knowledge. The key question is whether Serabi maintains execution through the handover and appoints a permanent CFO whose experience matches the demands of its next phase.
TL;DR
Serabi Gold has appointed Nick Box as Interim Chief Financial Officer following Colm Howlin’s departure after 13 years, with Box’s extractive industries finance background suited to a company managing concurrent development programs at Palito and Coringa; the transition’s real test lies in reporting continuity and the eventual profile of the permanent successor, not the appointment itself.