Board and mgmt appointments
Ferrexpo PLC
03 December 2007
3 December 2007
Board Appointments and Management Changes
Ferrexpo plc ('Ferrexpo' or 'the Company') is pleased to announce the
appointment of Christopher Mawe as its new Chief Financial Officer, effective as
of 7 January 2008. He will be appointed to the Board of Ferrexpo as an Executive
Director.
Dennis McShane, currently Executive Director Finance and Strategy, will assume
the role of Executive Director Business Development, with specific
responsibility for transactions associated with Ferrexpo's growth strategy.
Nikolay Goroshko, currently Ferrexpo's acting Chief Financial Officer, will move
to a new role reporting to Chief Projects Officer, Dave Webster, with
responsibility for all financial and commercial aspects of Ferrexpo's portfolio
of growth projects.
Ferrexpo is also pleased to announce the appointment of Oliver Baring to the
Board of the Company as Senior Independent Non-Executive Director. On
appointment, he will become Chairman of the Nominations Committee and a member
of the Remuneration Committee. Dennis McShane will cease to be a member of the
Nominations Committee at this time.
Mike Oppenheimer, Ferrexpo CEO, said:
'I'm extremely pleased that we have secured a CFO of Chris' calibre to join our
executive team. As an experienced FTSE 250 Finance Director with relevant
industrial and mining experience, Chris will add strongly to the operational
effectiveness of the company and the overall development of our business. His
appointment demonstrates our commitment to the highest standards of governance
and business performance and to the robust execution of our aggressive growth
plans.
Dennis, the founder member of our executive team, has made a major contribution
to the success of Ferrexpo. His new role is vital to our drive to extract
maximum value from our growth portfolio for shareholders, and I am pleased that
we will continue to benefit from Dennis' experience.
Nikolay has done an excellent job as acting CFO and he will now be able to
deploy the experience gained in his new leadership role in our growth projects.
His move reflects positively on our focus on leadership development and
capability building in our Ukraine assets.'
Michael Abrahams, Chairman of Ferrexpo, said:
'I'm pleased to be able to say that with Oliver's appointment as Senior
Independent Non-Executive Director, Ferrexpo has delivered on the governance
undertakings given at the time of its listing, and the Company is now fully
compliant with the UK Combined Code on Corporate Governance. Given Oliver's
background and his history of involvement with mining companies, he will be a
valuable addition to the Board and will work closely with the existing Board
members on the strategy of the Company as it continues to pursue its extensive
growth programme.
I am also pleased to welcome Chris Mawe to the Board. His appointment represents
a significant expansion of the Company's corporate capabilities, and he will be
a valuable addition to the executive leadership of Ferrexpo.'
Christopher Mawe, FCA (45) qualified as a Chartered Accountant with Coopers and
Lybrand in 1991, having gained a First Class Honours degree in Engineering. He
has held senior financial positions for the past 16 years, firstly with IMI plc
both in the UK and Europe, and then with Carclo plc as Finance Director where he
oversaw the transition of the group. Most recently, Chris was Finance Director
of UK Coal plc where he played a central role in the transformation and
development of the groups mining and property business. Since joining UK Coal
plc in February 2004 he assumed additional responsibilities for the Power
Generation Business as well as Sales and Marketing.
Oliver Baring (63) has been Chairman of Mwana Africa plc since its reverse
takeover of African Gold plc in September 2005. Prior to that, he was Chairman
of First Africa Holdings Limited and Director of First Africa UK Limited. Oliver
retired in 2001 from UBS Warburg, having led the International Mining Group with
responsibility for Africa and Europe. Previously he had been head of the mining
equity sales team and was responsible for its respected research coverage and
sales capability. Before its merger with SG Warburg, Oliver was a partner in
Rowe and Pitman. Oliver also remains Chairman of First Africa Holdings Limited,
as well as being a Non-executive Director of the Merrill Lynch World Mining
Trust, a Member of the Advisory Council of Sentient Private Equity Fund, and
Director and Non-Executive Chairman of Ridge Mining plc.
There are no other matters in connection with the appointment of Christopher
Mawe or Oliver Baring to be disclosed under paragraph LR 9.6.13 R of the Listing
Rules of the UK Listing Authority.
For further information, please contact:
Ferrexpo: +44 207 389 8304
Gavin Mackay
Finsbury: +44 207 251 3801
Robin Walker
Alex Simmons
Notes to Editors:
Ferrexpo is a Swiss headquartered resources company with assets in Ukraine,
principally involved in the production and export of iron ore pellets, used in
producing steel. Current output is over 9 million tonnes, approximately 85% of
which is exported to steelmakers around the world. The Group is currently
undertaking a significant growth programme and listed on the main market of the
London Stock Exchange in June 2007 under the ticker FXPO. For further
information please visit www.ferrexpo.com.
This information is provided by RNS
The company news service from the London Stock Exchange