Ralph Norris to step down from Fonterra board in November

Ralph Norris to step down from Fonterra board in November

By Fiona Rotherham

May 27 (BusinessDesk) - Ralph Norris is to step down from the board of Fonterra Co-operative Group following its annual meeting In November.

Norris joined the Board in May 2012 as an independent director, and said he made the decision because of his other commitments. He will also resign from the board of the manager of the Fonterra Shareholders’ Fund at the same meeting on Nov. 25.

Fonterra said the board would initiate a process to identify a new independent director in consultation with the board of the shareholders' fund.

Norris is chairman of Fletcher Building and on the board of Origin Energy and is a member of the University of Auckland Council and the New Zealand Treasury Advisory Board.

He had a 40-year career in banking, serving as the CEO of Commonwealth Bank of Australia for six years and as managing director and CEO of the ASB for a decade until 2001. He left this role for several years to be the chief executive of Air New Zealand before leaving to head the CBA.

Norris was made a Knight Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit in 2009 and a Distinguished Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to business in 2006.

Units in the Shareholders' Fund fell 0.4 percent to $4.93, and have dropped 18 percent this year.

(BusinessDesk)

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