Kinross Gold makes a change at the top

August 2, 2012

Long-time Kinross Gold chief executive officer Tye Burt was fired as the company’s share price slipped and it acquisition of Red Back Mining struggled to live up the expectations that come from the $7.1 billion price.

Reuters reported that Paul Rollinson was named as the new chief executive.

The announcement, just ahead of Kinross's quarterly results.

Kinross Gold paid a staggering $7.1 billion to acquire West African-focused Red Back Mining in 2010. However, earlier this year, Kinross booked a $2.94 billion non-cash goodwill impairment charge related to its acquisition of the Tasiast gold mine in Mauritania and the Chirano gold mine in Ghana - both of which were acquired from Red Back.

Barrick Gold, the world's largest gold miner, less than two months ago replaced its chief executive Aaron Regent and recently Barrick announced disappointing quarterly results and a big spike in capital costs at Pascua-Lama, one of its largest growth projects.

Shares of Kinross have fallen 53 percent in the last twelve months. Its stock closed Wednesday at $7.94 on the New York Stock Exchange.
Rollinson, who takes over from Burt after his seven-year tenure as CEO, was formerly head of corporate development at Kinross. Like Burt, he is also a former investment banker, who has worked for Scotia Capital and Deutsche Bank, among others.

Credit Suisse analyst Anita Soni said Rollinson may have been tapped to lead portfolio reshuffling at the company.

"We believe Mr. Rollinson has been hired to lead the asset rationalization and restructuring process for Kinross which may include a divestment of Tasiast," said Soni, in a research note.

Kinross is in the middle of a "comprehensive capital and project optimization process" that was announced earlier this year, with an eye to improving its investment returns.

 

 

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