Fletcher Building chief executive Ross Taylor. Photo: RNZ / Dan Cook
The entire board of Fletcher Challenge should step down rather than just the chairperson and chief executive, Simplicity Kiwisaver founder and managing director Sam Stubbs says.
More than one million investors in KiwiSaver own shares in Fletchers through their funds and the company needed a fundamental change, he said.
The company on Wednesday reported a first-half loss of $120 million, which included $180m to complete legacy projects and another $122m of non-cash writedowns on its Tradelink business, which it intended to sell.
Chief executive Ross Taylor and board chairperson Bruce Hassall said they would stepping down after the disappointing result.
Speaking to RNZ, Stubbs said "a couple of scalps was not enough".
Stubbs said Fletchers is a giant in the construction industry, sits at the centre of a value chain and is a prominent New Zealand company - it should operate better.
He told RNZ the company focuses on excuses rather than a fundamental overhaul to be a better performing company.
"It is more hubris than excellence.
"This is the latest in a series of disappointments from the company. We've been seeing this now for about ten years."
Trading had been halted earlier in the day and when it resumed at 12.30pm, Fletchers share price fell nearly 16 percent, or 65 cents, to $3.51 a share, the lowest level since September 2020.
Speaking to media earlier in the day, Hassall said both he and Taylor took responsibility for the situation the company has found itself in.
"Part of the privilege of leading - we both recognise that the buck stops with us.
"And [we] believe it is important for us to take accountability for some of the recent issues we've had at the corporate level."
Hassall would step down at the company's annual shareholders meeting in October, while Taylor has handed in his six month notice period for retirement.
"I think that it's really important to set the tone here in the organisation and our culture, that when these things happen, accountability is taken from the top," Taylor said.
He said he wanted to leave a good transition in place as he departed from his role as chief executive.
Taylor reiterated the issues faced by Fletcher were due to historic issues and said the business was in "good operational shape".
