Potash Corp (POT) CEO and longtime president Bill Doyle will step down after 27 years — to be replaced by former Inmet Mining head Jochen Tilk.
Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan Ltd. made the announcement Sunday evening, adding that Doyle, 64, will remain on as advisor until June 2015.
Incoming head Tilk left Inmet last year following a takeover by First Quantum Minerals Ltd.
“Jochen [Tilk]’s successful track record, his reputation among peers and commitment to the industry made him the ideal candidate to serve our customers and lead Potash Corp. through our next phase of growth,” Mr. Doyle said in a statement.
Potash Corp., which in 2010 successfully fended off a $39 billion hostile takeover attempt by mining company BHP Billiton Ltd., has seen its profits hit recently by slumping potash prices after the breakup last year of a Russian-Belarusian trading partnership that helped control supply in potash, a key fertilizer ingredient. Most recently, the company posted a 45% drop in fourth-quarter earnings and slashed its outlook for 2014.
Insiders have noted that the decision to step down was foreseen, given Doyle’s previous comments about leaving after age 65.
But the move comes at a potentially challenging period for the industry. The Wall Street Journal notes that “the global market in potash has been in disarray since last summer, when Russian potash-mining concern OAO Uralkali announced that it would leave a trading partnership with Belarus….
“The move effectively ended an informal global pricing cartel, sending prices of the commodity tumbling.”
POT stock is up 3.8% year to date, but down 13% from one year ago.
