After boardroom battles and falling profits, group attempts to tackle corporate governance issues
Eurasian Natural Resources Corporation has made another move to assuage investor worries about its corporate governance after various boardroom battles.
Former banker Mehmet Dalman, who became chairman earlier this year promising better transparency, has been given a number of executive functions. But the Kazakh miner stopped short of making him executive chairman, as some had anticipated.
Still, the move means Dalman will take charge of corporate functions, including finance, legal and compliance, leaving chief executive Felix Vulis to concentrate on operational issues - that is, running the actual business.
In August it reported a cut in its dividend after a 40% fall in first half profits, and it has also been probing allegations of wrong doing at some of its Kazakh and international operations.
After a number of non-executives were pushed off the board last year, investors expressed concerns about the way the business was being run. Following the restructuring - which also includes Terry Wilkinson becoming chairman of the nomination and corporate governance committee - Dalman said:
It represents an efficient addition and division of labour between Felix and myself.
ENRC's shares - after some initial enthusiasm - are now virtually unchanged on the news, down 0.2p at 272.3p. Analysts at Numis said:
A minor board change but appears to play into the strengths of the individuals, which should be taken well.
Overall, as the EU budget discussions continue and ahead of a new meeting on Monday about Greece, the FTSE 100 is up 8.64 points at 5799.67.
SABMiller has added 21p to £28.22 after a number of brokers - including Deutsche Bank, Credit Suisse and Societe Generale - raised their price targets following the brewing group's better than expected figures on Thursday.
 |
| READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT www.guardian.co.uk |
