Fletcher dumps two executives in overhaul of business units, replaces CFO

Thursday 30th October 2014

Fletcher Building chief executive Mark Adamson has continued with his management team overhaul, dumping two executives in a restructuring of the company's building products and infrastructure products division.

New Zealand's biggest building products and construction group is creating two new divisions - heavy building products and light building products and is on a global hunt for executives to run them. Building products chief Tim Richards and infrastructure products executive Mark Malpass aren't being considered for the new roles and will leave the company.

Adamson will announce further details in coming weeks. In a statement today the company said business units were being combined "to better align product and service offerings to customers."

"As a result, there will be a reduced number of larger business units, and these will provide each general manager with the critical mass to benefit from economies of scale, further invest in people capabilities, and deploy greater resources in product innovation and customer service," the Auckland-based company said.

Adamson also said he is combining the roles of strategy and performance management and chief financial officer into an expanded CFO role, naming strategy chief Gerry Bollman to the position while existing CFO Nick Olson will become group finance director.

The changes were "part of a continued programme to drive improved execution of the company’s strategy and to lift its operating and financial performance," Adamson said.

“We recognise that we must pursue organic growth opportunities while at the same time we need to do more to lift the performance of our business portfolio," he said. "We have a number of businesses, particularly in Australia, which are not performing to our expectation and which will require greater management input to drive the desired improvement."

Adamson was chief of Fletcher's laminates & panels division when he was tapped as CEO in 2012.

The company told shareholders at their annual meeting this month that operating earnings would rise to between $650 million to $690 million in 2015 from to $624 million in 2014 as it prepares to ramp up home building. Investors who had been hoping for even stronger growth and more signs of improvement in Australia initially sold off the shares.

Fletcher stock rose 1.2 percent to $8.5 on the NZX today and have fallen 0.7 percent this year.

BusinessDesk.co.nz

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