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18 June 2012   |   Announcements

Fletcher Building Appoints New CEO

Fletcher Building chairman, Mr Ralph Waters, announced today that Jonathan Ling will retire as Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director on 30 September 2012. Jonathan will be returning to Melbourne where he was based prior to moving to Auckland when he was appointed Chief Executive Officer six years ago.

Mark Adamson has been appointed Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director and will take up the role on 1 October 2012. Mark is currently Chief Executive of the Laminates & Panels division, which includes the Laminex business in Australia and New Zealand, and the Formica business with operations in North America, Asia and Europe.

“Jonathan indicated to the board when he was appointed to the chief executive officer position that he intended to serve for about five years, and he feels that having completed six years this is the right time for him to retire,” Mr Waters said.

The search process to find a replacement for Jonathan included existing members of the executive team and a global search for external candidates. The role attracted significant interest from senior executives in New Zealand and overseas. Mr Waters said it was especially pleasing that Jonathan’s successor was selected from the current executive management team given the strength of the external applicants.

Mr Waters said the board was unanimous in selecting Mark Adamson as the new chief executive officer, and said directors were impressed with what he had achieved in his current role, and the vision he has for Fletcher Building.

“Mark Adamson has done an outstanding job at Formica, undertaking difficult restructuring early in his tenure as global president of that business, and more recently successfully growing its earnings in developing markets particularly in Asia. His leadership has enabled Formica to deliver continued operational performance and earnings improvements year after year despite very challenging conditions in many of its markets”, Mr Waters  said.

“Beyond that, the board were impressed with Mark’s understanding of the opportunities and challenges across the whole of the group, and the clear strategic direction and vision he can bring to Fletcher Building. Over the next few years we will look to grow earnings regardless of economic conditions in each of our core markets, and Mark’s ability to deliver continued operational performance improvements and to also identify and execute strategies for profitable growth make him ideally placed to lead the company over this next period,” Mr Waters said.

Mark Adamson is a 46 year old British national with an honours degree in Finance. He qualified as a Chartered Accountant with Deloitte. He has had extensive experience in senior financial roles in several industries. He joined Formica in 2000 and has held senior operational management roles since 2003. Mark is currently based at Formica’s headquarters in Cincinnati, Ohio (USA) and will relocate to Auckland with his family.

Mr Waters thanked Jonathan Ling for his leadership of Fletcher Building over the past six years.

“As chief executive, Jonathan has overseen two large acquisitions which have nearly doubled the size of Fletcher Building.  Just as significantly, he has successfully steered Fletcher Building through one of the worst economic downturns in recent times. The company’s sound financial position and the strength of its management team are fitting testament to Jonathan’s leadership,” Mr Waters said.

For investor enquiries contact:

Bill Roest
Chief Financial Officer
Phone:   + 64 9 525 9165
Mobile:   + 64 21 990 779
Email: bill.roest@fb.co.nz

For media enquiries contact:

Stephen Smith
Corporate Affairs Advisor
Phone: + 64 9 525 9125
Mobile: + 64 21 375 166
Email: stephen.smith@fb.co.nz

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