CFO packs away his calculator at BHP Billiton

published 28 November 2011

There are to be changes at the top of mining colossus BHP Billiton that will see the company get a new group chief executive and financial officer.

Alex Vanselow, Group Executive and Chief Financial Officer, will retire from BHP Billiton at the end of February 2012 to pursue personal business interests.

He will be succeeded as chief financial officer by Graham Kerr, recently President of Diamonds and Speciality Products, while Mike Henry, President of Marketing, will join the Group Management Committee as Group Executive and Chief Marketing Officer, reporting to the Chief Executive Officer, Marius Kloppers. Kerr will be based in Melbourne, moving from his current base in Vancouver, Canada, while Henry will continue to be based in Singapore.

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Vanselow's departure appears to have caught the market on the hop. He has been with the company since 1989 and since 2006 has been the Chief Financial Officer.

Kerr joined the Broken Hill Proprietary company, as it then was, in 1994 and served in a wide range of finance and treasury roles before quitting BHP Billiton in 2004 for a brief stint at a rival. He rejoined BHP Billiton in 2006.

Henry joined the group in 2003 from Mitsubishi Corporation, where he served in a variety of commercial roles. He was appointed President of Marketing in 2010. Prior to that appointment he had responsibility for the marketing of a variety of commodities including Petroleum, Energy Coal and Uranium, and has also overseen BHP Billiton's freight operations.

Vanselow will remain with the group until the end of February 2012 to ensure a smooth hand-over.