Fletcher Building chair steps down immediately
Fletcher Building’s chairperson Bruce Hassall has stepped down with immediate effect.
When Fletcher Building announced its horror first-half year results, which included an after-tax loss of $120 million, two weeks ago, Hassall and chief executive Ross Taylor announced their time at the company was up.
At the time, Hassall,who has been chairperson since 2018, said he would step down at the construction giant’s annual shareholders’ meeting later this year.
But yesterday morning, Fletcher Building announced that Hassall had decided to step down as chairperson and director of the company and Fletcher Building Industries with immediate effect.
Hassall’s decision was to expedite the appointment of a new permanent chairperson, who would then lead the appointment of a new chief executive, it said.
Barbara Chapman, who is currently a director, will be the acting chairperson.
While she would lead the external and internal search process for the new chairperson, she was not putting herself forward to take role permanently.
“The board and management continue to prioritise the operational performance of the company, finalisation of the New Zealand International Convention Centre project, and managing the Western Australia plumbing matters,” she said.
Fletcher’s recent struggles have included its first half-year loss, the announcement a week earlier of an $180m cost blowout on two of its major projects, and a stoush over leaky Iplex pro-fit pipes in West Australian homes.
It had also been hit by the 2019 fire at the NZ International Convention Centre, and incurred reputational damage for the part it played in the nationwide Gib board shortage as it had a 95% share of the market.
That catalogue of woes had led to increasing shareholder pressure on Fletcher’s board and management.
KiwiSaver provider Simplicity and the NZ Shareholders Association publicly asked the chairperson to resign and all board members to put themselves up for re-election two years ago in the wake of the Gib shortage.
More recently, Simplicity’s managing director Sam Stubbs said the company’s board and management should be put under heavy scrutiny following recent cost blowouts on big projects.
When the first-half results were announced, Hassall and Taylor said they would step down as they believed it was important that, as leaders of the business, they accepted accountability.
“It is important to set the tone and culture of the organisation, and lead from the top, so the buck stops with us,” they said.
“But we want to leave the company well-positioned for the future, and get a good transition in place.”
Taylor would be retiring six months on from that announcement.
Hassall has been a director on the board since 2017, and was appointed chair the next year. His appointment followed former chairman Sir Ralph Norris’ resignation, which also came after the company suffered significant losses.
He is a former senior partner and chief executive of PwC New Zealand, and is also the chairperson of The Farmers’ Trading Company and Profile Group Holdings, and a director of Fonterra Co-operative Group.