BHP’s new chairman Recruiter’s profits up

ACTIVIST investor Elliott has backed BHP Billiton’s new chairman Ken MacKenzie as it pushes for change at the mining giant.

MacKenzie, former boss of global packaging group Amcor, joined Billiton as a non-executive director last year and will succeed Jac Nasser in September.

Elliott, which wants a review of Billiton’s petroleum arm, said MacKenzie showed “strong leadership qualities and made difficult decisions to improve shareholder returns” at Amcor. DEMAND for temporary workers in the US and Europe boosted half-year profit at recruiter SThree.

Gross profit rose 2 per cent to £134.3million, with America up 16 per cent and profits from Europe 7 per cent ahead. The engineering, life sciences and energy sectors grew. Its UK and Ireland profit fell 16 per cent to £27million due to public sector reforms and Brexit uncertainty.

Chief executive Gary Elden said: “The continued momentum of our contract business gives us a solid base to grow.”