Executive SearchCEDA CEO Vision Series Luncheon, sponsored by OPPEUS. Guest speaker Mr Graeme Liebelt, Managing Director & CEO – Orica Ltd
October 1, 2008
OPPEUS was pleased to host Mr Graeme Liebelt, CEO of Orica Ltd, at a lunch held in conjunction with CEDA, on Wednesday 1st October.
Graeme spoke about Orica's beginnings and how the opening of the Australian economy has led to the growth of Orica and other internationally competitive companies.
Currently, Orica has about a 30% global marketshare, and are looking to consolidate this on the basis of the forecasted emerging markets such as China and Russia. He also explained that forecasts have shown a new trend in the mining sector, in that more companies are going 'underground', an area that allows Orica further opportunity to exploit their capabilities.
Mr Liebelt said that despite the current financial market's volatility, they are also going ahead with the planned demerger of the consumer product division. He explained that despite the trouble in the US, demand on the Australian resources market shows no signs of slowing down, allowing them to proceed with their strategy as planned.
The demerger will see a restructuring of Orica into a business that will 90% Mining/Infrastructure based. The demerger includes brands such as Dulux, British Paints, Selleys & Yates among others.
The original decision to grow the explosives part of the business was due to the fact that there was no competition in the market. Orica bought back ICI after the split, which created global scope and growth opportunities. Mr Liebelt said that Orica needed to work on this scale to sustain the R&D required to remain innovative.
Mr Liebelt explained that much of the growth of Orica is due to M&A, which over the years has proved tricky but worthwhile. The company have completed some 40 acquisitions.
They are in the 7th year of continuous profit growth which has been driven not only by the local resources boom but also through China, India & Russia as emerging markets.
Mr Liebelt said that the company is on track for purchasing in South Africa and are just waiting for an opportunity at the right price. However, the next likely targets of China and Russia are more likely to be joint ventures where they can exploit the existing workforce and customer base.
Overall, he said "investments are driven by the location of customers".
The areas he sees management focusing on are:
- sustaining the technology
- developing sectors
- protecting assets and
- controlling volatility
He sees his management through this phase as one of "building and consolidating leadership".
When asked what his top management issues are, he named talent & retention as the key to success. And while we worried about getting and keeping the best people in his business, the focus must remain upon their strategy and growth.
"The Orica story is one full of optimism".
For coverage by The Age newspaper, please click here.
