Engineering group, Powerscreen International, has appointed a new finance director following a raft of resignations in the wake of accounting irregularities at heavy machinery subsidiary, Matbro.

The move comes three months after former finance director, Mr Barry Cosgrove, and chief executive, Mr Shay McKeown, stepped down following a troubled period when shares in the company halved.

Mr John Kennerley, formerly at engineering group, APV and British company Tomkins, takes over the finance role from non-executive director, Mr Brian Kearney, who has been acting finance director since April.

He takes on the post as the company is being investigated by the British Serious Fraud Office and is expected to announce an annual loss of £65 million sterling.