The head of construction and maintenance firm Transfield Services has stepped down after turning a full year loss into a healthy net profit of $84.8 million.
Chief executive Peter Goode will resign on September 30 and will be temporarily replaced by non-executive director Graeme Hunt while a search for a permanent replacement is undertaken.
During the three and a half years Dr Goode has been in the position the business has gone through a major restructure.
He presided over the $598 million acquisition of resources sector services company Easternwell in late 2010.
However last April, Transfield was forced to issue an earnings downgrade for the business after it failed to meet expectations of being a strong contributor to company profits.
DJC Corporate analyst Ross MacMillan on Wednesday said it was difficult to ascertain the reasons behind Dr Goode’s resignation, but it was clear that the company had gone through a challenging period under his reign.
“In the three and a half years he’s been in charge the company has gone through a tumultuous time and that’s been reflected in its results,” he said.
Transfield chairman Tony Shepherd said Dr Goode was leaving to take up a partnership with a private equity firm and had agreed to work out his six months notice period.
“I’d like to thank Peter on behalf of the board and the company for driving the transformation of our business over the past three and a half years,” Mr Shepherd said.
“This is a difficult market situation, but he has accomplished a lot.”
Transfield made an operating net profit of $106 million in the year to June 30, just ahead of the $105 million result it forecast to the market in April.
However, the operating profit was down 17 per cent on the previous year, due mainly to costs associated with restructuring initiatives that the company expects will begin delivering financial improvements in the 2012/13 financial year.
Mr MacMillan said the result was “reasonably solid” but the market had taken a conservative view of the results in light of Transfield’s restructuring.
Transfield shares closed 13.5 cents, or 6.59 per cent, lower to $1.92.
Transfield has forecast an operating profit at the lower end of a range of $125 million to $135 million, assuming no significant change to the value of the Australian dollar and no extreme weather events.
Dr Goode also said there was no truth to predictions that the mining boom in Australia had reached its peak.
“Despite recent media reports about the peak of the resources boom mining spend on projects actually underway is continuing,” he said.
The company’s statutory net profit in the year to June 30 was $84.8 million, up from a $19.7 million loss in the previous year caused by one-off restructuring costs.
Transfield declared a final, unfranked dividend of nine cents per share, in line with the previous year’s final distribution.
