Positives for Boral with New CEO and Suncorp Group with New CIO

Summary

• Boral Limited has appointed new CEO Zlatko Todorcevski, with extensive experience across the steel building products, oil & gas, and logistics sectors, working in finance, business planning and strategy roles in Australia as well as internationally.
• The new Boral boss will leverage his exceptional commercial acumen and strategic insight to help BLD tap opportunities currently in the pipeline or being created through stimulus activities in the economy.
• Finance, insurance and banking giant, Suncorp Group has appointed former CBA executive Adam Bennett as Chief Information Officer (CIO) to lead the Group’s strategic technology path and digitisation, automation and data initiatives.

Leading materials sector player Boral Limited and financial services giant Suncorp Group have announced key leadership changes, as Australia begins to reopen its economy and some new challenges may be set to unfold. Nevertheless, both companies are currently operating with a strong capital position.

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New CEO Zlatko Todorcevski To Anchor Boral Through Challenging Times

Sydney, Australia-based Boral Limited (ASX:BLD), engaged in the manufacturing and sale of building and construction materials in the United States, Australia and Asia, has announced the appointment of Zlatko Todorcevski as Chief Executive Officer (CEO) & Managing Director of the Company, effective 1 July 2020. This will allow a transition period with Boral’s current CEO & Managing Director, Mike Kane, who would be retiring from the Company in September 2020.

Boral Limited’s product range includes blocks, bricks, cementitious materials, concrete, pavers and retaining walls, plasterboards, quarry materials, roof tiles, roofing, masonry and other relevant materials while other services comprise roof tile installation, asphalt laying, spray sealing, concrete placing, and empty pallet collection. The Company caters to residential and non-residential construction markets as well as engineering and infrastructure markets.

The BLD stock settled the day’s trade on 15 June 2020 at $ 3.540, up 1.724%, with a market capitalisation of $ 4.27 billion.

Mr Todorcevski brings a wealth of experience, around 30 years, of working in Australia and internationally in steel building products, oil & gas, and logistics sectors, working in finance, business planning and strategy roles.

His most recent appointment has been on the Board of construction materials company, Adelaide Brighton Limited, where he has served in the capacity of Chairman since March 2017 and since May 2019 as Deputy Chairman and Lead Independent Director. Prior to that, he served as the Chief Financial Officer of Brambles Limited from 2012 to 2016 and Oil Search from 2009 to 2012. This followed a 23-year career at BHP in senior finance and business development roles across the company’s steel building products and petroleum businesses, culminating in the role of CFO Energy at BHP based in the US.

Now, he will step down from the Adelaide Brighton Board, effectively immediately and also complete an orderly transition off the Board of Coles Group Limited, where he serves as Chairman of the Audit and Risk Committee, and The Star Entertainment Group Ltd, where he is Chair of the Audit Committee.

As per Boral’s Chairman of the Board, Kathryn Fagg, Mr Todorcevski has proven to be an outstanding candidate as:

• He has a strong track record as a senior executive in many large industrial and energy companies, with international operations, owing to his exceptional commercial acumen, strategic insight and a focus on return on capital.
• Over the course of his career, he has led and executed significant transformations including business turnarounds, and in capital allocation and strategic portfolio management, that are critical for Boral Limited.
• As Boral’s CEO, Zlatko’s key responsibility is to develop a clear operational plan including management of current challenging conditions and work with the Board to finalise the operational performance review and strategic positioning of the businesses within Boral’s portfolio. He would work towards strengthening the Company’s financial performance and delivering improved returns for shareholders.

As Australia begins to slowly reopen its economy and the impacts of COVID-19 pandemic are yet to fully play out, Mr Todorcevski said that he is looking forward to the challenges ahead and ensure that Boral is well placed to take advantage of opportunities currently in the pipeline or created through stimulus activities and emerge as a strong business.

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Suncorp Group Gets New Chief Information Officer

Brisbane, Australia-based Suncorp Group Limited (ASX: SUN) is a leading finance, insurance, and banking corporation with a strong capital position, backed by the Group’s A+ credit rating and balance sheet strength. On 15 June 2020, the Group announced the appointment of Adam Bennett to the role of Chief Information Officer (CIO), effective 1 July 2020, subject to regulatory approvals.

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Mr Bennett has held a number of technology and banking roles, primarily at Commonwealth Bank of Australia (ASX: CBA), which makes him a highly experienced financial services executive.

• At CBA, he served as the CIO for Retail and Business Banking divisions as well as Group Executive for Business and Private Banking for five years, until early 2020. His contributions to CBA included modernisation of the bank’s technology and delivery of transformational projects including new customer propositions, digitisation of all processes, risk reduction programs and implementation of other technology innovations.
• Mr Bennett’s successful track record in both commercial and technology roles is expected to be crucial in guiding SUN’s strategic technology path, digitisation, automation, and data initiatives, according to Steve Johnston, Suncorp Group CEO.
• Besides, his expertise in technology equips him well to create significant value via delivering Suncorp Group’s strategy as well as the operational, product and customer opportunities that it is eyeing.

Mr Bennett commented on his recent appointment, stating that he is delighted to be joining a highly purpose-driven and customer-focused organisation. He added that he is looking forward to work with the technology and business teams to deliver enhanced customer experience and deliver on Suncorp’s strategy via leveraging recent investments in digital and data.

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Over the last few months, Suncorp Bank has played a crucial role in helping customers and providing industry-wide financial support measures such as lower fees, access to working capital, loan repayment deferrals and a new 3-year unsecured SME Support Loan to help customers/ businesses sail through the ongoing crisis. The Group employed major staff into customer-facing roles to solve higher number of customer issues and demands.

Despite the volatile and unprecedented business landscape, Suncorp Bank is strongly placed with a risk-weighted CET1 ratio of 9.02% (within the target range of 9%-9.50%) and strong growth of $ 1.2 billion recorded in at-call deposits during the March quarter 2020. The performance came in on the back of customer-focused initiatives, enhanced digital banking provisions, with over half of the new deposit accounts now being opened online.

The SUN stock settled the day’s trade on 15 June 2020 at $ 9.00, down 3.22%.

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(Note: All Currency in AUD unless otherwise specified)