Corporate News
By MUGAMBI MUTEGI, pmutegi@ke.nationmedia.com
In Summary
- Kung’u Gatabaki has joined the Portland Cement board as one of two new directors nominated by the global conglomerate Lafarge.
- He takes over from former Kenya Airways CEO Titus Naikuni who held the position for eight years.
- Prof Sarone ole Sena, the chairman of the Eldoret University Council, has also joined the East African Portland Cement (EAPCC) board.
- The two new directors were appointed in a special board meeting.
Former Capital Markets Authority (CMA) chairman Kung’u Gatabaki has joined the Portland Cement board as one of two new directors nominated by the global conglomerate Lafarge, stepping into the shoes of former Kenya Airways CEO Titus Naikuni who held the position for eight years.
Prof Sarone ole Sena, the chairman of the Eldoret University Council, has also joined the East African Portland Cement (EAPCC) board. The two new directors were appointed in a special board meeting.
They will be expected to help reverse EAPCC’s fortunes, which for the year ended June 30 reported a net loss of Sh386 million.
“The shareholders are together addressing the
future of the company and ways to make it more successful,” said EAPCC
chairman Bill Lay, who himself was this month re-appointed for a
third-year term.
Lafarge owns 41.7 per cent of the Nairobi Securities Exchange-listed cement manufacturer.
The National Social Security Fund owns 27 per cent of the company while the Treasury holds 25 per cent.
Mr Gatabaki, who served as CMA’s chairman from June
2011 to May 31 this year, is joining the board of a company which he is
all too familiar with.
He was the chairman of the regulatory body when
EAPCC’s shares were suspended from trading at the Nairobi Securities
Exchange (NSE) in 2012 following allegations of corporate malpractice.
In December last year, Portland Cement’s management
took the regulator to court seeking to lift a suspension of its annual
general meeting resolutions following a complaint by government.
But Mr Gatabaki’s past regulatory actions against
the company now seem to be water under the bridge, if his appointment is
anything to go by.
Portland’s earnings have been hurt by stiff price
competition, high staff costs and the weakening shilling. The firm’s
administrative costs in the year increased by Sh700 million following a
restructuring of its management, staff compensation and an increase in
staff gratuity.
It did not pay a dividend to shareholders. The
cement producer posted a net profit of Sh1.7 billion in the year to June
2013, before slipping into loss this year.
It will be hoping to tap the long experience of the two new board members to turn around its fortunes.
“The two new independent directors nominated by
Lafarge bring with them a wealth of experience from the corporate
world,” EAPCC said in a statement.
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