Financial services group Tower is reeling from the company’s huge losses, with its Chairman Colin Beyer making sure everyone knows who he thinks is to blame: former CEO James Boonzaier.

The NZ-based Tower Group booked a net loss of $67 million for the year and had its ratings downgraded by Standard & Poor’s.

Mr Beyer told shareholders at the annual general meeting in Wellington last week the company is “changing its ways” after alleged bad management decisions in the past. He said Mr Boonzaier’s management placed too much focus on the performance of the group’s share price instead of its operating environment.

Investors are now urging the appointment of a new CEO by the end of December to provide the group with a better “strategic direction” and help restore its profitability.

Meanwhile, S&P’s is maintaining its CreditWatch with negative implications rating on various Australian and New Zealand subsidiaries of Tower. In October the ratings on Tower group companies were downgraded and placed on CreditWatch Negative, as a result of a profit warning statement by the group indicating a loss would occur. It cut Tower’s long-term credit rating to BBB- from BBB and its short-term rating to A3 from A2.

S&P’s said the CreditWatch placement will be resolved after further analysis of results, and once an assessment of the “wide-ranging strategic and operational changes” impacting Tower Australia are made.