WARRNAMBOOL Cheese & Butter chief executive officer David Lord has told the company today that he will step down from the top position.
Mr Lord has been CEO with the South West Victorian dairy manufacturer since 2010, and the resignation will be effective from April 2015.
The Board has a succession planning process in place, but has not announced who the successor will be.
The change in senior management comes in the same week as Saputo boss Lino Saputo junior visits WCB suppliers, telling farmers to grow their herd and ramp up milk production.
The milk company also announced today a net operating profit after tax for the 2013-14 financial year of $21.3 million, which is an increase of $13.8 million or 184.1 per cent compared to the same period last year.
Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortisation (EBITDA) lifted by $19.7m or the equivalent of 77.3pc – to $45.2m, compared to $25.5m in the 2012-13 financial year.
Non-recurring items comprised $9.5m of pre-tax takeover costs, as well as $1.2m of rights issue costs as a result of the change in company ownership.
Mr Lord released the profit report to the ASX today, saying that the past financial year had been a strong one thanks to international dairy demand and a lower Australian dollar.
But the outlook for the next 12 months did not look as solid, with global dairy prices coming down from the highs of the last year.
The Board also said it intended to align its financial year end to that of its parent company Saputo, with the reporting date switching to March 31 each year, effective from 2015.
