Displaying items by tag: CFO

Switzerland: Géraldine Picaud has been appointed as the Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of LafargeHolcim and member of the Executive Committee with effect from 1 February 2018. She succeeds Ron Wirahadiraksa, who is described as leaving the company for ‘opportunities outside the group.’ He leaves after less than two years in the role.

Picaud, a French national, joins the group from Essilor International, an ophthalmic optics company, where she has been Group CFO and member of the Executive Committee since 2011. Prior to joining Essilor, she spent four years working for the ED&F Man group in Winterthur, Switzerland following 13 years as CFO at international specialty chemicals group, Safic Alcan. She originally trained as an auditor.

India: Ambuja Cements, part of LafargeHolcim, has appointed Suresh Joshi as its Chief Financial Officer (CFO) with effect from February 2016. This followed the resignation of Ambuja Cements' former CFO Sanjeev Churiwala in October 2015.

In addition, Christof Haessig was appointed as an Additional Director (Non independent - representing the Promoter Group) on the Board of Directors with effect from 9 December 2015. Haessig, at present, is the Head of Corporate Strategy and Mergers and Acquisitions at LafargeHolcim.

Ambuja Cements reported a 36% decline in its standalone net profit to US$23m for the quarter that ended on 30 September 2015, compared to a net profit of US$35.8m in the same period of 2014. Its total standalone income fell by 4% to US$316m in the July - September 2015 quarter compared to US$330m in the same quarter of 2014.

Switzerland: LafargeHolcim has appointed Ron Wirahadiraksa as the new Chief Financial Officer (CFO) and member of the Executive Committee. Ron Wirahadiraksa will succeed Thomas Aebischer, who is pursuing new opportunities outside the group. Ron Wirahadiraksa will join LafargeHolcim on 1 December 2015.

Ron Wirahadiraksa is currently Executive Vice President and CFO of Philips, a group he joined in 1987. After working in the Netherlands, Greece, Malaysia and the US, he became CFO at LG Philips LCD in South Korea in 1999. During that time, as President and CFO, he shared operating leadership with the Korean CEO. He became CFO at Philips Healthcare in 2008. In 2011, he took over as CFO for the Philips Group and played a pivotal role in the transformation of the company. Ron Wirahadiraksa was born in the Netherlands in 1960 and graduated with a doctorate in Business Economics from The Free University of Amsterdam, the Netherlands.

"I would like to thank Thomas Aebischer for his contribution to the group and I wish him every success in his future endeavors," said Eric Olsen, CEO of LafargeHolcim. "I am delighted to welcome Ron to LafargeHolcim. Ron is a highly-skilled and experienced CFO with a multicultural background. He comes with vast experience in transforming business models, driving performance and in taking value creation to the next level."

"Attracting an international CFO of Ron Wirahadiraksa's caliber is a great opportunity for LafargeHolcim and I am pleased to see him joining the group," said Wolfgang Reitzle, Statutory Chairman of LafargeHolcim. "Under the leadership of Eric Olsen, we have a diverse and strong management team that will be key to the success of our transformation journey to create superior value for our shareholders."

India: Mangalam Cement Limited has announced that Anil Kumar Mandot has resigned from the post of CFO. The board of directors has appointed Yaswant Mishra as CFO with effect from 7 August 2015. This is in addition to his present designation of president (corporate).

Kenya: According to Business Daily, East African Portland Cement Company (EAPCC) has renewed its efforts to recruit a new COO after the candidates who applied to fill the new position in August 2014 'fell short' of the required qualifications. EAPCC has now re-advertised the position, which is expected to strengthen its governance structure.

The Athi River-based manufacturer first sought to recruit a COO and CFO in 2014 through consultancy PricewaterhouseCoopers. Kephar Tande, the company's managing director, said that the board deemed the applicants to be unqualified. "The first attempt in 2014 did not yield a suitable candidate from the shortlisted four, hence this new advertisement," said Tande. "This position is primarily required to improve the efficiency of our supply chain to make the company more competitive. We expect the position to be filled by August 2015."

EAPCC's current management executive structure is made up of heads of sections and divisions like financial management, research and development, internal audit and risk management, as well as strategy performance improvement. The new COO will be responsible for cement production operations, production engineering, product research and development, as well as sales and marketing.

EAPPC has not said whether it will re-advertise the CFO job, also a new position. The CFO is expected to streamline financial management at the company, which has recently faced accusations of having reported inaccurate accounts. "The position of CFO will be filled as soon as internal procedures are completed," said Tande.

South Africa: The board of PCC has accused former CEO Ketso Gordhan of defamation and published the circumstances behind his resignation, according to local media.

Initially the board of PPC stated that Gordhan had resigned due to 'a difference of opinion' regarding board procedures. However, Gordhan later said that he had lost confidence in the board for not dismissing an executive who was 'undermining company strategy.' PPC had only two executives at the time, Gordhan and CFO Tryphosa Ramano.

PPC said the reasons Gordhan had given for wanting to fire CFO Ramano included that she 'had a bigger office than him' and had requested a reserved parking spot. Ramano had also refused to participate in a voluntary salary sacrifice scheme aimed at raising the wages of lower-level workers and was 'interrogating a loan agreement' which Gordhan had verbally agreed to with a potential funder. The board said that Ramano had ill-treated an employee whom Gordhan had employed.

The board was of the view that the reasons advanced by Gordhan were not substantive and did not warrant the termination of the CFO. Additionally, PPC said that Gordhan had resigned twice in his 20-month stint as CEO.

According to Gordhan PPC's statement is, "Making a complete mockery of the substantial reasons I presented to the board and shows the board's inability to actually deal with the relevant matters impacting the business and shareholder value."