Deane confirms departure from Fletcher Building, with Waters set to ascend

Tuesday 16th March 2010

Roderick Deane has confirmed his retirement from the board of Fletcher Building, ending a 16-year association with Australasia’s biggest building materials company including nine as chairman.

He will be succeeded by former chief executive Ralph Waters, who won praise from investors for his stewardship of the Auckland-based company. Deane chaired Fletcher from its inception as a separately listed company in 2001 and since then it has grown to be New Zealand’s largest listed company, from 17th ranked on its debut.

Shares of Fletcher fell 0.7% to $8.12 on the NZX today and have advanced 50% in the past 12 months.

“I am leaving at this time, in the knowledge that the company is very strongly positioned to both grow as markets recover and to continue to expand its operations,” Deane said in a statement. Waters “is eminently well placed to lead the board and the company to a successful future.”

Deane’s retirement marks a scaling back for the professional director, who led Telecom Corp as CEO when it grew to become the dominant company on the NZX through the 1990s.

He was formerly a deputy governor of the Reserve Bank.Waters ran the company for five years until his retirement in 2006 and the stock almost quadrupled under his tenure reaching about NZ$8.67 when he left at the end of August 2006.

Businesswire.co.nz

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