Rio aims to steady ship
Business as usual boss pleases investors
MINING heavyweight Rio Tinto has appointed former Anglo-American executive Simon Thompson as chairman.
British-born Mr Thompson will take over when Jan du Plessis steps down from the role after nine years in March.
Mr Thompson has been a non-executive director at Rio since 2014 and chairs its remuneration committee.
The 58-year-old takes over Rio at a time when it is grappling with corporate governance issues including being probed by regulators in the US, UK and Australia about payments to advance a now abandoned iron ore project in Africa.
US regulators have also hit a former chief executive and chief financial officer with fraud charges over the timing of impairments associated with its failed $US3.7 billion investment in a Mozambique coking coal project.
Rio announced the appointment yesterday as it hosted an investor day where it pledged to continue with its focus on cost savings and increasing returns to shareholders.
Investors will view Mr Thompson’s appointment as a “business as usual” approach for Rio which had been flirting with the idea of appointing former Xstrata head Mick Davis.
That idea was dropped after investors expressed concern about Mr Davis’s reputation for aggressive deal making.
“Rio Tinto is in great shape, with a strong management team, world-class assets and a successful strategy,” Mr Thompson said in a statement. Rio Tinto chairman Jan du Plessis on handing over his role to Anglo-American executive Simon Thompson
“I look forward to leading the board as we work … to ensure that Rio Tinto continues to deliver superior returns for its shareholders by maintaining its capital discipline and ‘valueover-volume’ approach.”
Mr Thompson has over 20 years’ experience working across five continents in the mining and metals industry.
He chairs multinational private equity firm 3i Group. He has previously chaired British oil and gas exploration company Tullow Oil, which has extensive operations in Africa, and served on the boards of AngloGold Ashanti and Newmont Mining.
From 1995 to 2007 he held senior positions at AngloAmerican, including heading its base metals division.
Mr Thompson started his career in investment banking with Lloyd’s in the early 1980s.