Kazakhmys Chairman and CFO to step down in May

The Chairman and Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of Kazakhstan-focused copper producer Kazakhmys are to both step down from the board in May, the company announced on Thursday morning.

Vladimir Kim, Chairman and major shareholders of the company, announced at last year's annual general meeting in May that he would be relinquishing his position within the following 12 months. Kazakhmys has now appointed Simon Heale, currently a non-executive director of the board, as Kim's replacement.

Kim, who will remain on the board as a non-executive director, said: "I am delighted that Simon has accepted the position of Chairman. His knowledge of Kazakhmys and our business will be invaluable. I remain committed to Kazakhmys and look forward to contributing and offering support to Simon and the board.

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"Having put in place the listing on the London Stock Exchange, secured financing and brought our major growth projects to development, I believe this is an appropriate time for change."

Meanwhile, CFO Matthew Hird is to also step down from the board in May after six years in the role, the firm revealed.

He will be replaced by current Deputy CFO Andrew Southam, though will remain with the group until the end of 2013 "to ensure a smooth transition". Southam has been working for the company since 2006 and was appointed as Hird's deputy in January 2012.

The moves come after a 42% share price fall over the past 12 months - the stock has dropped 13% since the start of the year - despite the miner having hit production targets across all asset classes in 2012.

Kazakhmys, the largest copper producer in Kazakhstan and one of the biggest worldwide, has been under pressure over recent weeks after warning in January that copper output would be flat in 2013.

In a separate statement, Hird said: "I have greatly enjoyed my time at Kazakhmys. The listing process and creation of a finance function in the UK and Kazakhstan was an immense challenge, which we successfully achieved."

A pre-close trading statement also released Thursday, showed that full-year revenues totalled $3.35bn in 2012, down 5.9% from $3.56bn previously, partly due to a 10% decline in the price of copper during the year.