Leighton appoints new chairman

LEIGHTON Holdings has appointed Bob Humphris as the construction giant's new chairman.

Mr Humphris says the board "totally" supports Leighton chief executive Hamish Tyrwhitt and his management team and was committed to the company's strategic objectives.

Leighton said today Paula Dwyer was appointed deputy chairman. The board appointments come after Leighton announced on Friday Stephen Johns has stepped down as chairman and left the company.

Directors Wayne Osborn and Ian Macfarlane, a former Reserve Bank of Australia governor, had also tendered their resignations following a breakdown in relations with German construction company Hochtief, which owns a 40 per cent stake in Leighton.

"Their view is that Hochtief no longer supports an independent board at Leighton," the company said on Friday.

Hochtief, which is majority owned by Spanish Group ACS, has two representatives on what was the company's 10-person board. In a letter to Leighton, Hochtief Australia said it was disappointed by the resignations.

"We do not consider Hochtief has done anything to undermine the independence of the Leighton board or threatened any such action," Hochtief said in the letter dated March 23. "For several decades, Leighton and Hochtief have chosen to follow a set of informal and non-binding governance principles which include a board and a management structure in which the majority of directors are non Hochtief-associated directors."

"Hochtief has at no time given the Leighton independent directors any cause to believe that it intends to depart from these principles."

Mr Humphris said Hochtief letter confirmed the current governance arrangements relating to Leighton's independence.

"The board are committed to Leighton's strategic objectives and totally support the CEO, Mr Hamish Tyrwhitt, and his management team," Mr Humphris said.

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'Interference': Leighton board walks

Source: Bloomberg

THE chairman and two other board members of construction and mining group Leighton Holdings have walked out, citing interference and lack of independence from major shareholder the Spanish-controlled Hochtief.

Chairman Stephen Johns and directors Wayne Osborn and former Reserve Bank of Australia governor Ian Macfarlane resigned Friday morning.

The walk out takes the vacancies on the Leighton Holdings board to five out of 12 seats, following one unrelated resignation last year and another existing vacancy.

A statement from Leighton company secretary Richard Willcock  said the men had "resigned following what they perceived to be a breakdown in relations with the major shareholder Hochtief and their view that Hochtief no longer supports an independent board at Leighton".

"Leighton operates under an independent board and management. Leighton believes these governance arrangements, which have been in place for a long period, have contributed substantially to the value created for all of Leighton's 57,000 shareholders," Mr Willcock said.

In the meantime the company was "absolutely focused on managing the business in the best interests of all shareholders", Mr Willcock said.

Company analysts described the shock resignations as a case of “back to the future” after a similar change of guard at Leighton just 18 months ago.

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