The board must have known when the proxy votes were tallied days before the meeting that retribution was ahead, but Lloyd displayed little contrition.
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A group of large investors had previously written to the ASX to protest the exchange’s granting of a waiver that allowed James Hardie’s US acquisition to proceed without shareholder approval.
If that wasn’t evidence enough, the shares had lost one-third of their value.
But contrition appeared to be absent from James Hardie’s DNA.
It echoed sounds from the past when the union-led movement sought to challenge the company over putting aside appropriate compensation for those suffering from asbestos exposure.
Both James Hardie’s treatment of asbestos victims and more recently of its shareholders displayed a level of hubris and arrogance that was breathtaking.
It was the courts that eventually forced James Hardie into compensating its asbestos-related mesothelioma victims.
Could it be that the dubious corporate culture had survived decades, through many different boards and executives?
Or did the company, which derives the majority of its profits from the US and is domiciled in Ireland, believe it could ignore Australia, which houses most of its shareholders?
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Chief executive Aaron Erter talked enthusiastically about this being a transformative year for the company and noted in his address that the board “take(s) the perspectives of all shareholders seriously.
“We have engaged extensively with many of you during the past several months and deeply appreciate all the feedback that we have heard,” he said. “We are committed to continuous engagement and enhancing the value of your investment.”
And Lloyd was sticking to her guns that the acquisition of Azek was the right thing to do.
But one gets the feeling that the shareholders that drove this embarrassing governance outcome for James Hardie are not finished yet.
They will be looking to be heard on who should replace Lloyd and the departing directors.
Those left sitting around the board table will need to heed shareholder threats, or else find themselves in a similar situation in a year’s time.
But it is difficult to tell whether what’s left of the board of James Hardie has got the memo.
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