CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICERS – AUSTRALIA – APPOINTMENTS AND RETIREMENTS

Woodside, BHP circle Slattery

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Perry Williams, Colin Packham, Brad Thompson
The Australian – Page: 13 & 19 : 11-Mar-26

Woodside Energy’s chairman Richard Goyder says its board is assessing a number of internal and external candidates to succeed former CEO Meg O’Neill; a decision is expected by the end of March. BHP’s president for Australia, Geraldine Slattery, is considered to the leading external candidate for the role, although she is also in contention to replace CEO Mike Henry when he eventually steps down; there is market speculation that BHP will name Henry’s successor by August. Saul Kavonic from MST Marquee says that recruiting an external candidate may be challenging for Woodside, given that its executive remuneration is below that of its global peers.

CORPORATES
WOODSIDE ENERGY GROUP LIMITED – ASX WDS, BHP GROUP LIMITED – ASX BHP, MST MARQUEE

Bloodletting as CSL axes its CEO

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Eli Greenblat
The Australian – Page: 13 & 19 : 11-Feb-26

Biotechnology group CSL will undertake a global search for a successor to outgoing CEO Paul McKenzie. CSL released an announcement to the sharemarket late in trading yesterday that McKenzie will retire with immediate effect. Chairman Brian McNamee has indicated that the board recognised that McKenzie lacked the skills that CSL will require in the future. He has defended the decision to announce McKenzie’s departure the day before CSL is slated to release its interim results, arguing that it will allow investors to focus on the financial report rather than leadership issues. CSL’s former chief financial officer Gordon Naylor will become interim CEO.

CORPORATES
CSL LIMITED – ASX CSL

New BlueScope boss open to company carve-up

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Simon Evans
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 15 & 18 : 3-Feb-26

BlueScope Steel’s new CEO Tania Archibald announced plans to reduce costs by $150m on her first day in the role. Owen Birrell from RBC Capital Markets estimates thar this represents potential gains of $3 per share. Archibald has also indicated that the listed steelmaker will consider all options for delivering more value to shareholders, which could potentially include demerging its North American business. Archibald has also defended BlueScope’s belated decision to disclose the takeover bid from SGH and Steel Dynamics, stating that the company is "very comfortable" with the position it took. BlueScope has formally rejected the takeover bid.

CORPORATES
BLUESCOPE STEEL LIMITED – ASX BSL, SGH LIMITED – ASX SGH, STEEL DYNAMICS INCORPORATED

Mining boss calls time at 69 after ushering in golden era for Perseus

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Peter Ker
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 21 : 6-Nov-25

Perseus Mining’s market capitalisation is currently about $6.9bn, compared with just $100m when Jeff Quartermaine became CEO in 2013. The gold miner’s revenue has risen from $293m to $1.24bn over the same period. Quartermaine is stepping down after 13 years at the helm and with his 69th birthday approaching; he says the company’s next stage of growth will require somebody with the energy and commitment to take on the role for 5-10 years. Perseus has a focus on Africa, but Quartermaine says Regis Resources’ blocked McPhillamys gold project in NSW shows that there is sovereign risk much closer to home.

CORPORATES
PERSEUS MINING LIMITED – ASX PRU, REGIS RESOURCES LIMITED – ASX RRL

‘No regrets’: Rio Tinto’s outgoing CEO marks his scorecard

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Eric Johnston
The Australian – Page: 13 & 14 : 13-Aug-25

Rio Tinto’s head of iron ore Simon Trott will formally succeed Jakob Stausholm as CEO on 25 August. Stausholm says he is proud of what he has achieved at Rio Tinto since taking up the role in 2021; amongst other things, he addressed the resources group’s cultural issues, rebuilt trust in the company in the wake of the Juukan Gorge scandal and increased its exposure to the copper and lithium sectors. Stausholm has defended Rio Tinto’s move to ramp up exposure to lithium, arguing that it is very clear that the world needs more lithium.

CORPORATES
RIO TINTO LIMITED – ASX RIO

Trott faces a tough Rio agenda

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Brad Thompson
The Australian – Page: 13 & 19 : 16-Jul-25

Rio Tinto veteran Simon Trott will succeed outgoing CEO Jakob Stausholm on 25 August; other internal contenders had included chief commercial officer Bold Baatar and aluminium division boss Jerome Pecresse. Trott has been Rio Tinto’s head of iron ore for four years, and chairman Dominic Barton has praised his contribution to the flagship division; Trott in turn has praised Jakob Stausholm’s leadership and guidance since he replaced Jean-Sebastien Jacques as CEO in 2021. Trott’s immediate challenges in his new role will include Rio Tinto’s big investment in lithium during Stausholm’s tenure and its Oyu Tolgoi copper mine in Mongolia.

CORPORATES
RIO TINTO LIMITED – ASX RIO

Outsider to lead ANZ into new era

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Lucas Baird, James Eyers
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 17 : 10-Dec-24

The ANZ Bank has advised that Nuno Matos will succeed CEO Shayne Elliott in mid-2025. Matos was previously the head of wealth management and personal banking at HSBC; he had also been considered for the role of CEO at Westpac, although the major bank opted to replace Peter King with internal candidate Anthony Miller. High Dive from Atlas Funds Managements says an external appointment will be able to help resolve cultural issues at ANZ. These include a bond trading scandal in its markets division, which effectively ruled out the head of institutional banking Mark Whelan as Elliott’s replacement.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND BANKING GROUP LIMITED – ASX ANZ, HSBC BANK PLC, ATLAS FUNDS MANAGEMENT PTY LTD

ANZ’s Elliott to quit after nine years

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Jonathan Shapiro, Kylar Loussikian
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 23 : 9-Dec-24

The ANZ Bank is tipped to appoint an external candidate to succeed CEO Shayne Elliott, who is expected to step down within days. ANZ’s acquisition of Suncorp Bank for $4.9bn and a bond trading scandal are likely to be the key legacies of Elliott’s tenure at the helm, which began in 2016. ANZ has also scaled back its Asian operations under Elliott, while it has ramped up investment in platforms such as ANZ Plus. Meanwhile, ANZ has delivered a total return to shareholders of 111 per cent since Elliott became CEO; this higher than Westpac’s return but much lower than that of the Commonwealth Bank and National Australia Bank.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND BANKING GROUP LIMITED – ASX ANZ, SUNCORP BANK, WESTPAC BANKING CORPORATION – ASX WBC, COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA, NATIONAL AUSTRALIA BANK LIMITED – ASX NAB

Sneesby had to go: top Nine investor

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Cameron England
The Australian – Page: 13 & 16 : 13-Sep-24

Nine Entertainment Company has advised that CEO Mike Sneesby will step down at the end of September, after more than three years in the role. Nine’s chief finance and strategy officer Matt Stanton will become acting CEO until the media company appoints a permanent replacement. Reece Birtles from institutional investor Martin Currie says Sneesby’s departure was not unexpected, given the challenges that Nine is facing; they include revenue growth, cultural issues and concerns about its Domain property listings business. Nine’s market capitalisation has fallen below $2bn, compared with more than $5bn when Sneesby became CEO in April 2021.

CORPORATES
NINE ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX NEC, MARTIN CURRIE INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT LIMITED

Long search ahead for new telco chief

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Jared Lynch, Eric Johnston, Greg Brown, Tansy Harcourt
The Australian – Page: 6 : 21-Nov-23

Optus has appointed CFO Michael Venter as its interim CEO following the resignation of Kelly Bayer Rosmarin in the wake of the recent network outage. Bayer Rosmarin told Optus staff that she had decided that her resignation was in the best interests of the telco. She was widely criticised for her response to the outage, and she had attracted similar criticism over her handling of Optus’s data breach in 2022. Yuen Kuan Moon, the CEO of parent company Singapore Telecommunications, says Bayer Rosmarin had led Optus during a "challenging period", and stressed that Optus is an "integral part" of the company’s business.

CORPORATES
SINGTEL OPTUS PTY LTD, SINGAPORE TELECOMMUNICATIONS LIMITED