Boral boss Mark Selway has been pushed from his post a month after the building products company issued a surprise profit warning.
Mr Selway stood down, effective immediately, on Tuesday after apparently losing the support of the company’s board.
He had been in the top job for just under two and a half years.
Analysts said Boral’s board had run out of patience waiting for acquisitions and strategic changes made by Mr Selway to pay off.
Investors didn’t seem perturbed by his departure, with Boral shares rising five cents, or 1.4 per cent, to $3.61.
Mr Selway began as chief executive at Boral on January 1, 2010, and immediately began a strategic review to find savings as weak construction markets weighed on its performance.
The company has since shed staff and scaled back some of its operations, while also making acquisitions in Asia and the local mining sector.
But it remains under financial pressure.
In April, Boral sliced its full year profit forecast to $128-$153 million from a previously expected $150-$175 million, largely because of the impact heavy rain has had in hampering house building on Australia’s east coast.
Mr Selway was trying to improve performance when both the Australian and US housing markets were weak, Fat Prophets analyst Greg Fraser said.
“There’s just been no housing activity to put the wind in his sail.”
Morningstar’s head of equities research, Peter Warnes, agreed.
“He needed a lot of luck on his side for those numbers to come off.”
Asked if Mr Selway was pushed, Mr Warnes, said: “absolutely”.
But he said the board must take responsibility for Boral’s $598 million acquisition of the remaining half of plasterboard joint-venture partner, Lafarge, it did not already own.
The market judged the deal to be too expensive.
“You can’t just lump it on one person,” Mr Warnes said.
In a statement announcing Mr Selway’s departure, chairman Bob Every pointed to excellent operational improvements made during his tenure.
Dr Every said the company would conduct a global search for an executive.
Boral Building Products managing director Ross Batstone will act as chief executive until the company hires a replacement for Mr Selway.
Mr Selway would remain employed by Boral until July 31 to help with the transition.
