The managing director of fertiliser and explosives giant, Incitec Pivot, has suddenly announced she will leave the company at the end of the month after more than five years in the job.
Jeanne Johns' resignation throws more doubt on the progress of the company's plans to split its two business divisions into separately listed identities later this year.
No explanation has been provided by the $6 billion company for the unexpected management changes which will see Incitec Pivot's chief financial officer, Paul Victor, take the helm in an interim capacity and the company's chief of staff, Liza Somers, become acting CFO.
Ms Johns, who arrived in Australia in late 2017 with an international leadership pedigree after working with energy conglomerate BP in the US, Asia, Europe and Britain, will spend the next few weeks working with Mr Victor and board of directors to hand over her responsibilities.
Her departure comes as tensions continue to swirl about the wisdom of demerging the company's foundation fertiliser business from its internationally active Dyno Nobel explosives operations.
The company has also disappointed shareholders after recently announcing an eight per cent fall in statutory profit to $354 million for the first half of 2022-23, which was below market expectations.
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Dyno Nobel was acquired in 2008 to help buffer Incitec's exposure to the volatile fertiliser trade.
Incitec Pivot's board is understood to have been reconsidering the demerger option in the past few months.
Industry sources have speculated about resistance among some directors who are uneasy about proceeding with the break up.
Speculation about the demerger concerns has also been attributed to Incitec's decision to pause a share buyback.
The demerger was initially flagged to happen in the first half of this year, but plans were delayed when the company began negotiating the sale of its Waggaman ammonia plant in Louisiana, now set to be bought for about $2.5b by rival ammonia, urea, and ammonium nitrate manufacture, CF Industries.
Meanwhile, uncertainty about declining fertiliser prices and the industry's higher energy costs have also made conditions difficult.
Incitec Pivot suffered hefty losses on the share market as its share price slipped from around $3.20 to $2.94 when last month's half year results were posted.
An earnings drop of 58pc by the fertiliser arm of the business overshadowed a 42pc gain in the explosives sector.
Complex factors contributed to the fall in fertiliser earnings, including soaring global gas and imported urea values, eastern Australian flooding issues last year, and declining demand.
Incitec's American business arm was also hit hard by a wild winter which slowed farm operations down.
The company's share price has since recovered slightly, including a slight kick to $3.08 a share after news of Ms Johns looming departure was announced.
Incitec Pivot chairman, Brian Kruger, has wished Ms Johns well for the future, acknowledging her commitment to the company in the past five years.
He also noted the significant transactions which she had led during her term, including nailing down a urea offtake agreement from the planned Perdaman plant in northern West Australia and the Waggaman sale.
"She leaves the company in a very strong financial position with a solid platform for future growth."
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Andrew Marshall
Andrew Marshall is the group agribusiness writer for ACM's state agricultural weeklies and websites. He is a former editor at The Land and has worked in various Rural Press group roles in Canberra, North Richmond (NSW) and Toowoomba (Qld).
Andrew Marshall is the group agribusiness writer for ACM's state agricultural weeklies and websites. He is a former editor at The Land and has worked in various Rural Press group roles in Canberra, North Richmond (NSW) and Toowoomba (Qld).
