Press Release Archive - 2011

Sir John Parker, Chairman, Anglo American plc:

First, I want to welcome you all to our 2011 AGM, and especially to those shareholders who may have travelled some distance to be with us.

Before I mention some of the many achievements of your company over the last year, I would like to say just a few words about what I believe a board of directors should do in terms of leading and guiding companies. Speaking from my own experience of a large number of boardrooms – with Anglo American being my 5th FTSE 100 chairmanship – I cannot lay too much emphasis on how important it is to have a team of directors with a blend of skill sets and experience that can provide quality leadership in the boardroom.

As your Chairman, I take considerable care in leading the process to build the highest quality Board here at Anglo American, and one where we create the professional openness and culture of transparency and respect that encourages lively internal debate. It is in that vein that we endeavour to seek constant improvement in all our Board management and administrative processes, with the aim of keeping at the forefront of best boardroom practice.

We are also aiming to increase the proportion of women on the Board from today’s 20 per cent to around 30 per cent (excluding the Chairman) by the end of 2012 – well ahead of the 2015 25 per cent target date recommended in the recently issued Davies Report, on which committee I served.

At this juncture, I should like to take the opportunity to acknowledge and thank all the members of the Board team, who collectively are making a significant contribution to our Board debates, while also serving individually on the Board’s vitally important underlying committees.

You will notice a new face here today. I am pleased to welcome Phuthuma Nhleko, who was appointed a non-executive director last month. Under Phuthuma’s leadership over the past nine years, MTN has been transformed from a highly successful South African mobile operator into a very considerable international force in mobile telecommunications services in emerging markets. His broad international business experience and his civil engineering background will lend further strength to our Board.

It is to our longest-standing member, however, that I especially want to pay tribute today. Nicky Oppenheimer notified the Board some months ago of his wish to retire from his position as a non-executive director, at the end of today’s AGM, after 43 years with the Anglo American Group.

On behalf of the Board, I would like to express our thanks to Nicky for his significant contribution to the Group over such a long period. Anglo American’s origins in South Africa more than 90 years ago lay in the hands of Nicky’s grandfather, and that legacy lives on. Sir Ernest Oppenheimer’s commitment that Anglo American should make a positive and sustainable difference to the communities around its mining operations, and to wider society, is deeply embedded in the way we do business today. Personally, I have greatly valued Nicky’s advice and wise counsel since I became chairman 21 months ago and we will all miss these qualities, as well as his sound business sense and integrity. We wish him well and look forward to a continued strong and productive relationship through our respective interests in De Beers.

I would also like to pay tribute to the management team under Cynthia Carroll’s leadership as our chief executive. Cynthia has worked tirelessly, with a great focus on executing the Board’s strategy. We not only have a top-class team, with an impressive record of innovation and leadership in exploration, in engineering and in our mining operations, but highly skilled employees across the world who are making a real difference every day.

I have now had the privilege of visiting all our global business units and major projects and I am not only deeply impressed by the commitment of our people, wherever they work, but by their dedication and professionalism in living out Anglo American’s values.

This was brought home to me on a recent visit to the disastrous flood areas in Queensland in Australia. Our people at Metallurgical Coal carried out heroic acts just after Christmas in evacuating an entire community threatened with exceptional flood levels. They took over the local airfield to co-ordinate more than 90 helicopter flight movements and used trucks from the mine to evacuate 328 residents, put them into Anglo American’s temporary accommodation, and fed and clothed them for the following two weeks.

We witnessed similar involvement of our Chilean management and employees in the 2010 Chilean earthquake, where not only was all possible assistance offered in the rescue operations, but where our management took responsibility to rebuild the local schools that had been devastated in the earthquake.

I speak for the entire Board in saying we are really proud that the management teams there cared enough and felt empowered to help the community because they worked with the right Anglo American values.

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