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BHP chief's exit shocks market
By Geoff Hiscock and Grant Holloway
MELBOURNE, Australia (CNN) -- The chief executive of global mining house BHP Billiton, Brian Gilbertson, has quit the company citing irreconcilable differences with the boards of both the British and Australian arms of the company. The move shocked investors, with BHP Billiton shares closing 3.97 percent lower in Australia Monday at A$9.92 on heavy turnover. Its decline was in contrast to the broader Australian market, where the benchmark S&P/ASX200 put on 0.65 percent. There had been no hint of frinction between Gilbertson and the boards of the dual-listed company, which is the world's largest diversified resources group. A BHP Billiton spokesman told CNN that the differences between Gilberton and other board-members had to do with "management style and approach". The company stressed that financial performance was not an issue. BHP Billiton will report 2002-03 first-half earnings on February 24. Gilberton, who released first-quarter earnings on October 31 showing a 1.1 percent increase in net profit, said then that the year would be a difficult one, given the weak global economy. But he said China would be one of the few growth opportunities. (Full story) Goodyear takes overGilbertson has been replaced as CEO by the company's chief development officer, Charles 'Chip' Goodyear, who started with BHP in 1999 as chief financial officer. Gilbertson had been in the top job for just six months, succeeding Paul Anderson in July 2002. Anderson and Gilbertson negotiated a $28 billion merger between the U.K. based Billiton company and Australia's iconic BHP in May 2001. In a statement released Monday morning, BHP Billiton said Gilbertson's resignation was "in the best interests of the company and its shareholders". "The boards of BHP Billiton Ltd and BHP Billiton Plc today announced that they had appointed Mr Charles (Chip) Goodyear as chief executive to replace Mr Brian Gilbertson who has resigned as chief executive and as a director due to irreconcilable differences," BHP said in a statement. Under prodding by the corporate regulator, the Australian Securities and Investments Commission, BHP Billiton issued a second statement later on Monday morning in which it said Gilberton's resignation was "not related to any concerns by the Board about the financial performance of the group". BHP Billiton chairman Don Argus said Goodyear -- an American national who once worked with resources giant Freeport McMoRan and investment bank Kidder Peabody -- had the full support of the board in continuing the strategic approach announced last year. Resources experienceGoodyear has been responsible for overseeing the resource giant's portfolio management and its development strategy. "Together with Paul Anderson, Chip is widely credited with turning around the fortunes of the old BHP," the company's statement said. "Chip is an outstanding executive with solid resources industry experience," Argus said. "During his time at BHP Billiton, he has shown real leadership skills, financial acumen and a great ability to get things done," he said. A BHP Billiton spokesman told CNN that Goodyear's appointment as CEO was permanent and not an interim solution. He said Goodyear was the best person for the job and there would be no change in the company's strategy. BHP Billiton has 38,000 employees working in more than 100 operations in about 20 countries. The company is a major global producer of commodities, including aluminium, energy coal and metallurgical coal, copper, ferro-alloys, iron ore and titanium minerals. It also has substantial interests in oil, gas, liquefied natural gas, nickel, diamonds and silver. Last year, it generated turnover of $17.8 billion and earnings before interest and tax of $1.93 billion.
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