Brian Roche to step down as NZ Post CEO having led adaptation to shrinking mail volumes

Monday 29th August 2016

Brian Roche will step down as chief executive of New Zealand Post in April 2017, having led the state-owned postal service's drive to adjust to shrinking mail volumes with a combination of cost cuts, asset sales, modernisation and expansion of new businesses.

The Wellington-based company will embark on a CEO search to replace Roche, who has held the position since January 2010, said chairman Michael Cullen. The former senior partner at PrivewaterhouseCoopers said he was retiring from full-time executive positions to pursue other business interests.

NZ Post and its banking subsidiary Kiwibank both reported reduced profits in the 12 months ended June 30, with NZ Post's result bolstered by one-off benefits from an Australian asset sale and Kiwibank experiencing a difficult second-half to the financial year.

The Kiwibank group, which includes savings, insurance and investment products, saw profit fall 0.8 percent to $131 million while NZ Post reported net profit after tax of $141 million for the year the June 30, down 1.4 percent, a result Roche described as "confirming a steady year-on-year financial performance for the group overall".

A major contributor to the profit result was the $43 million net proceeds from the sale of NZ Post's Converga subsidiary in Australia, for A$75 million generating a gain of NZ$43 million, and freeing up capital funds for investment.

During Roche's tenure, "costs have been lowered across the group and the business re-sized to recognise the reality of the decline in letters and the growth in parcel volumes and financial service", Cullen said in the statement. "A programme of divestment of assets has also allowed the Group to focus on its core businesses."

At the same time, NZ Post has invested in modernising its parcel and mail processing operations, the introduction of electric delivery vehicles, while Kiwibank acquired Gareth Morgan Investments (GMI) and developed a new core banking system.

Cullen said Roche was also instrumental in developing a new ownership structure for the group, which will see it divest 45 percent of its holding in the Kiwibank group to the NZ Superannuation Fund and the Accident Compensation Corp, which will take 25 percent and 20 percent respectively.

BusinessDesk.co.nz

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