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Oliver Mander: NZ Shareholders Association CEO on Fletcher Building disappointing shareholders at recent AGM · The SME Stream

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  Speaker 1: Now, Fletcher Building's chief executive and board faced some pretty
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  Speaker 1: unhappy shareholders today at the company's and your General Meeting.
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  Speaker 1: The new chief executive, Andrew Reading, had to deliver more
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  Speaker 1: bad news, if you can believe it, announcing that revenue
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  Speaker 1: was down twelve percent in September compared to a year
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  Speaker 1: ago and gross margins were under pressure. Oliver Amanda is
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  Speaker 1: the chief executive of the Shareholders Association and he was
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  Speaker 1: actually at the AGM today. Hey Oliver, Hi, Heather, how
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  Speaker 1: are you very well?
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  Speaker 2: Thank you?
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  Speaker 1: Although jeez, when is this bad news going to end?
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  Speaker 3: Well?
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  Speaker 2: Shareholders of Fletcher Building really hope it ends very soon.
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  Speaker 1: Do you expect that it will end soon?
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  Speaker 2: Though?
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  Speaker 1: Hope and expectation are two completely different things.
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  Speaker 2: They completely are. And look, that was one of the
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  Speaker 2: questions that I did ask today. Look, I think the
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  Speaker 2: thing that really still out at the meeting for me
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  Speaker 2: was the fact that the people on the podium to day,
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  Speaker 2: they were a very humble group of people. And that's
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  Speaker 2: the sort of humilidity that we have not seen in
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  Speaker 2: a Fletcher Building board for a very long time.
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  Speaker 1: How did they demonstrate their humility?
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  Speaker 2: I think they they were very prepared to listen to
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  Speaker 2: what shareholders had to say.
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  Speaker 3: They allowed, you know, the.
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  Speaker 2: Questions that were being asked were really quite authentic in
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  Speaker 2: terms of what was coming from the floor and the
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  Speaker 2: impact that the that the company's performance has had on
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  Speaker 2: shareholders in terms of their.
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  Speaker 3: Own returns and expectations.
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  Speaker 2: And the company was very clear about taking accountability for that.
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  Speaker 2: Board members, individual board members are very clear.
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  Speaker 3: About taking accountability for that.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, we know from what we wrote back in February
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  Speaker 2: that since February, the board has taken significant steps to
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  Speaker 2: address many of the kids and the concerns that we're raised,
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  Speaker 2: and that does include the fact that half the board
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  Speaker 2: is now no longer there.
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  Speaker 1: Do you think accountability is part of the reason why
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  Speaker 1: Barbara Chapman is announced she's going to resign as a director.
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  Speaker 2: I think that is a that's a really good question, Heather,
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  Speaker 2: That's possibly it, but also it's Fletcher Building has been
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  Speaker 2: a notoriously difficult company to govern for some time. I
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  Speaker 2: don't think Chapman ever put herself forward as a long
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  Speaker 2: term chair for the organization. I think the board has
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  Speaker 2: listened to shareholders in terms of seeking out experienced people
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  Speaker 2: in the building products industry or building materials background that
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  Speaker 2: are probably much more suited to that board. Any board
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  Speaker 2: needs a balance of skills to govern itself effectively. That's
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  Speaker 2: very true. But also when things not balanced, things don't
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  Speaker 2: go well. And that was a point that was made
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  Speaker 2: by shareholders today as well.
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  Speaker 1: You must know the new chief executive because he was
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  Speaker 1: obviously the chair at the Shareholders Association for Ages.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, yes, so I know Andrew reading very well until
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  Speaker 2: August the twenty second.
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  Speaker 3: Of course he was my chair here, so that's right.
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  Speaker 1: And tell me about him. Has he got the chops
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  Speaker 1: to turn this thing around?
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  Speaker 2: Well, we would argue that Andrew he knew Fletchers when
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  Speaker 2: it was good, way back in two thousand and six
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  Speaker 2: when he worked there, and he certainly comes from pedigree
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  Speaker 2: at that time at a time and the company was
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  Speaker 2: high performing at a time when look, he was one
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  Speaker 2: of the people have been running for the top job
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  Speaker 2: at that time.
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  Speaker 3: So knowing what the company was like when.
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  Speaker 2: It's good, balanced with a very heavy dose of external perspective,
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  Speaker 2: and in did to say his own commentary on Fletcher
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  Speaker 2: Building dating from way before I got here. Look, I
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  Speaker 2: think that does provide the new broom that shareholders have
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  Speaker 2: been looking for and what was really interesting, I mean,
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  Speaker 2: since he's been there in the two short months since
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  Speaker 2: he hasn't oounced the strategic review of the portfolio of
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  Speaker 2: businesses that Fletcher holds. We think that's a really critical
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  Speaker 2: step because actually that's ultimately about making sure that the
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  Speaker 2: company allocates capital and the right way allocate's capital into
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  Speaker 2: the businesses that can provide the highest return for shareholders
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  Speaker 2: going forward.
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  Speaker 3: And you know.
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  Speaker 2: He's got a very focused plan would seem focused on
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  Speaker 2: cost reduction, cash management, capital avocation, closing out the legacy
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  Speaker 2: issues had as well as that strategic review. So all
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  Speaker 2: that sounds really promising and well hopeful for shareholders to use.
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  Speaker 3: That terrible word.
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  Speaker 2: And look, we would hope he's being supported by a
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  Speaker 2: board that can give him the support that he needs
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  Speaker 2: to undertake his work.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, fair point, Oliver, Thanks very much. Oliver Man, the
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  Speaker 1: chief executive of the Shareholders Association. She's tough times at
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  Speaker 1: Fletcher