A day after the company announced positive quarterly earnings, Vale Ltd. also said that CEO Murilo Ferreira has decided to leave and that a search is on for his successor.
Ferreira's term formally ends in May.
“The selection of a successor will occur, as per the existing governance process,” the company said in a news release. “The selection process will be supported by an international executive recruiting firm and the new CEO will be elected by Vale’s board of directors.”
The board thanked him for his work and praised him for guiding the company during some difficult years.
“Murilo’s tenure was distinguished by the transformation of Vale into a leaner, lower-cost company with simpler and more efficient processes.,” the release said.
“With Vale, Murilo successfully faced down several economic challenges, leading Vale firmly in the recovery of its worldwide leadership status in the mining industry.”
According to Reuters, Vale said Thursday its net profit was $525 million for the fourth quarter, falling short of analyst expectations but reversing a heavy loss in the period a year earlier thanks to record output and higher iron ore prices.
A Reuters poll of analysts had forecast net profit of $1.8 billion in the quarter, but the world's largest producer of iron ore fell short on account of impairments totaling $2.9 billion, principally on fertilizer and nickel assets.
In the same period of 2015, Vale reported a net loss of $8.6 billion. And with higher prices and iron ore production reaching record levels, Vale reported net profit of $3.98 billion for all of 2016, a huge swing from a loss of $12.13 billion in 2015, the biggest loss in the company's history.
