McAleese chief executive Mark Rowsthorn plans to stick with the troubled transport group for the next few years as it tries to turn around its business following a fatal crash involving one of its Cootes petrol tankers last year.
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"Our strategy in terms of building the business hasn't changed but we've had to take a pause," Mr Rowsthorn told The Australian Financial Review after McAleese delivered a net loss of $63.6 million in its first year as a publicly-listed company.
McAleese will continue selling assets to stabilise its balance sheet before expanding its transport operations away from the resources and energy sectors into other industries like food and beverages as well as agriculture.
"We'll look at growing the businesses into other areas," Mr Rowsthorn said. "I want to be part of that because that's what I like doing."
Mr Rowsthorn, who owns 30 per cent of McAleese and was formerly a non-executive chairman, took over from Paul Garaty as CEO in March to stabilise the company.
Excluding some $76 million of costs associated with last year's accident and the restructuring of Cootes, McAleese delivered earnings before interest taxation depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) of $85.3 million, slightly ahead of its revised profits forecast.
But earnings were sharply below the 2014 EBITDA forecast of $126.8 million given to investors in the prospectus released ahead of the company's November float on the Australian Securities Exchange at $1.47 a share.
Following the Cootes crash last year, McAleese lost transport contracts with key customers, such as energy groups BP and Shell, and subsequently restructured its business, replacing senior management and cutting jobs. The Cootes business will be half the size it was a year ago when the restructuring is finished. Cootes, which now operates some 460 trucks and trailers compared with 960 previously, is also likely to lose its brand name and be merged into the McAleese brand over the next six months.
McAleese did not pay a final dividend, citing "difficult trading conditions" and restructuring costs and did not give a financial outlook for 2015. It plans to provide guidance at its annual general meeting on November 20.
McAleese is changing its current five-member board to make it more independent, with founding shareholder Keith Price stepping down at the AGM. Kerry Gleeson, a former general counsel at chemicals group Incitec Pivot, will join as a non-executive director from September 1.
Interim chief financial officer Warren Saxelby, a former BHP Steel executive who replaced Chris Nunn in April, will also become a non-executive director when the company finds a permanent chief financial officer. Analysts welcomed the appointment, noting Mr Saxelby had brought "focus and discipline" to McAleese's business. McAleese's shares are down 37 per cent over the past 12 months compared with a 10 per cent rise in the S&P/ASX 200.
