AFTER a year of new executive appointments at Ruralco, winds of change continue blowing through the farm services company's management corridors with chairman Richard England to leave as soon as a replacement is found.
Mr England, who has headed the board for most of his 13 and a half years as a director, announced he would leave during Friday's annual general meeting in Hobart, where company secretary Angie Somann-Crawford stepped down.
In May last year John Maher abruptly ended almost nine years as managing director to be replaced by former rural and retail general manager, Travis Dillon.
Mr Dillon and new chief financial officer, Adrian Gratwicke, have subsequently led a management revamp which has included new financial services general manager, Ian Perry; new rural operations boss, Matt Pederson; a new Rodwells and Total Eden general manager, Peter Weaver, and the recent appointment of new company secretary and general consul, Ilona Alsters.
Mr Maher, whose surprise departure sent shockwaves across the agribusiness sector, was acknowledged by Mr England as having led the company to grow and become a "stronger and diverse business by product, commodity and geography".
The company's diversification and de-risking strategies, notably the 2014 purchase of the Total Eden water services business and growth of the new Frontier International Agri livestock export division had contributed significantly to a record $14.1 million profit for 2014-15.
"We thank John for his commitment and hard work," he said, also confirming the board was now looking for the right person to take over his chairman's role.
Ruralco is also planning to appoint another director, while existing board members John Tuskin and Elizabeth Johnstone were re-elected at the AGM.
After recording a 33 per cent jump in after-tax profit and an 18pc lift in sales revenue to $1.6 billion for 2014-15, Mr Dillon said Ruralco's selling agency business continued to perform strongly on the back of higher than expected livestock and real estate volumes.
Buoyant prices in the first quarter were complemented by dry conditions in southern Australia forcing higher livestock turn-off rates.
Dry conditions had also pushed demand for the company's water services in the first four months of this trading year.
Building on Ruralco's expanded and leading position in the water service and trading business would be a key focus for growth, as was a "step change" in its financial services support for customers and maximising its share of business activity in the livestock-based protein supply chain.
Although good rainfall events Australia-wide had rejuvenated confidence in rural supplies sales in January and February in some areas, Mr Dillon said challenging seasonal conditions remained in certain regions.
