ANZ chief executive Nuno Matos will face shareholders at his first annual general meeting on Thursday after confirming plans to axe 4,500 workers. But it is chair Paul O’Sullivan and his board who will really feel the heat.
In a note circulated to clients last week and seen by Capital Brief, veteran banking analyst Brian Johnson said he was not convinced O’Sullivan’s re-election would succeed and that, if he were deposed, it was unclear who on the board would be considered his natural successor.
“Management are accountable to the Board and the Board is accountable to shareholders. The quantum of FY25 exco remuneration cuts clearly shows ANZ management were deemed to have failed and by implication we think that means the ANZ Board failed as well,” the MST Financial banking analyst wrote.
Investors don't typically roll the dice on a new chair and a new chief executive at the same time. With Matos in the midst of the biggest banking transformation in years and barely six months in the seat, the fact that O’Sullivan’s re-election is considered at genuine risk is a measure of how poorly ANZ has performed.
