Bowen Coking Coal chair Nick Jorss hits back at move to unseat him from flagship company

Bowen Coking Coal executive chairman Nick Jorss has slammed an attempt by Swiss-based fund iolite Capital to unseat him from the board.

Bowen Coking Coal boss Nick Jorss

Bowen Coking Coal executive chairman Nick Jorss has slammed an attempt by Switzerland-based fund iolite Capital to unseat him from the board.

Mr Jorss, a coal industry veteran, said the move was an “unnecessary and unfortunate distraction” created by iolite, which owns a 5 per cent stake in Bowen Coking Coal. In a statement to investors on Monday, Mr Jorss said iolite was seeking a shareholder meeting to remove him and non-executive director Neville Sneddon from the board.

The notice, which did not provide reasons, also seeks the installation of iolite founder and managing director Robert Leitz on the Bowen board.

Mr Jorss, who famously invested $1 in the mothballed Isaac Plain coking coal mine in 2015 and turned it into a billion dollar asset, said Bowen Coking Coal was hitting production records at its flagship Burton mine complex near Moranbah.

“This is an unnecessary and unfortunate distraction just as the Burton mine has achieved an operational steady state, we are hitting production records from Burton and the team is motivated and working hard to rebuild shareholder value,” Mr Jorss said. “The board and senior management have been in regular dialogue with the shareholder, and he has been clearly advised by the board that this approach is unhelpful and that the matters raised are best dealt with at the upcoming AGM.”

Nick Jorss. Picture: Annette Dew

He told shareholders Bowen had “weathered a number of storms in recent times and the board and management stand united and positive about its operational status and future”.

Bowen Coking Coal shares have lost more than 81 per cent of their value so far this year despite rising sales. In a research note released in May, Shaw and Partners said the company has had a difficult past two years due to poor performance of the Bluff mine near Blackwater in Queensland, adverse weather, and a period of weaker coal prices in early 2023.

Operating performance had been poor, but the outlook was considerably more positive as it benefited from growing demand from India, Shaw and Partners said. Last week, Mr Jorss helped launch Coal Australia, a new peak body for the sector that is under attack from environmentalists and some banks.

“We’re looking to restore our social licence and that’s driven by grassroots,” Mr Jorss told a gathering at Brisbane Tattersall’s Club. “It’s not CEOs, it’s our employees, it’s our communities, everybody from the bakery to the bar. We want to create pride in our local communities and encourage activism.”

Coal Australia is planning an advertising campaign to highlight the value and importance of coal to Australia.

Originally published as Bowen Coking Coal chair Nick Jorss hits back at move to unseat him from flagship company