The Board of Leighton Holdings Limited today (August 14) advised that it had agreed amendments to the terms of the employment contract with Chief Executive Officer, Mr Wal King. Leighton Holdings’ Chairman, Mr David Mortimer, said that the Board was very pleased to have retained the services of Mr King as CEO for a further three years until 30 June 2010, with an option to extend by mutual agreement.
“Mr King has overseen a transformation in Leighton, from a mid-tier contractor, with a market capitalisation of $100 million in 1987, to one of the leading contractors in the Asia/Pacific region. Based on return on shareholders’ funds, which this year averaged 36.7%, Leighton is one of the most successful project development and construction groups in the world,” he said.
“Since Mr King was appointed CEO in 1987, profit after tax has increased from $6.7 million to $450 million, and the share price has increased from 90c to around $42. In the last year, Leighton was the best performing of the Top 100 companies on the Australian Stock Exchange as measured by it’s Total Shareholder Return of 147%,” said Mr Mortimer.
“Mr King’s leadership and experience remains critical in steering the Leighton Group as it continues to diversify and grow, both in Australia and internationally. The Group is pursuing a number of growth initiatives and Wal will be actively involved in their implementation” he said.
“The Board believed that it was appropriate to revise Mr King’s contractual arrangements following the very strong performance of the Group over the last few years. The Board has amended the incentive thresholds to better reflect the current and expected levels of performance of the company, and to provide Mr King with additional incentives to drive further growth in the company.
“This represents a very good outcome for shareholders as we have secured Mr King’s services until at least June 2010, which promises to be a period of expansion. We have an incentive structure in place that aligns with shareholders interests and I expect that shareholders will continue to enjoy strong returns over the next few years,” said Mr Mortimer. -Leighton Holdings Limited
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