Kelsian managing director Clint Feuerherdt to step down

The shock decision by Kelsian boss Clint Feuerherdt was announced to investors on Friday.

Kelsian managing director Clint Feuerherdt. Picture: Supplied.

Kelsian boss Clint Feuerherdt will step down from his multimillion-dollar position heading up the transport and tourism operator of the SeaLink ferries to support his young family and the political ambitions of his wife – federal Labor senator Marielle Smith.

The surprise decision was announced to investors on Friday, with Mr Feuerherdt set to hand the reins to the company’s US division head Graeme Legh in April.

It comes amid a review of the company’s portfolio and capital management and allocation, which could result in a sell-off of assets or business units. The company has already commenced a process to sell and leaseback several depots in Western Australia.

Speaking to investors on Friday, Mr Feuerherdt said it was a difficult decision to leave the business where he’d been employed for more than 15 years, but it was the best decision for his young family.

“As many of you would know, I have a young family and a wife who has a very significant career that is also getting busier with lots of travel and long working hours,” he said.

“For family reasons, it’s therefore the right time for me to step back from the full time role of group CEO and better balance my time between work and family.

“I’ve been part of the growth of Kelsian for a long time, and it’s an incredibly important part of my life. It’s hard for me to imagine not being part of the Kelsian story and be here for some of the successes that may lay ahead.”

Labor Senator Marielle Smith. Picture: NewsWire / Martin Ollman

Mr Feuerherdt has been employed by Kelsian and its subsidiaries for more than 15 years, including the last five years as group chief executive and the last sixteen months as managing director.

In 2023-24 he took home a total salary of more than $2.1m.

He will stay on as a strategic adviser for an initial period of 12 months, helping to deliver the company’s strategic review.

He told investors the review would help guide the company’s approach to future investments, and could also result in a withdrawal from certain regions.

“We intend to be quite transparent about the metrics and the guide rails with respect to returns and how we measure the performance of those individual businesses,” he said.

“And obviously there are a wide range of businesses within the portfolio. There’s the very capital light public transport contracts that predominantly exist across Australia and Singapore, and they have a very different return on capital profile than, say, some of the SeaLink businesses, or even the American business.

“We intend to look at the business in specific silos that are like for like businesses. And then the next layer down is obviously looking at the businesses within those group of businesses to work out which ones could be performing better, or where that capital could be allocated differently in order to increase returns and maximise shareholder value.”

Kelsian operates SeaLink ferries to places including Kangaroo Island, Rottnest Island and Bruny Island, as well as public transport contracts and a motorcoach business across Australia, the US, UK and Singapore.

Mr Legh has led the company’s US division – formed through the acquisition of motorcoach company All Aboard America Holdings! (AAAHI) – since September 2023.

He was previously Kelsian’s chief development officer and will be paid an annual salary of $900,000 plus bonuses.

Kelsian chairman Fiona Hele said Mr Feuerherdt had helped to transform Kelsian into a “global transport leader”, with annual revenues of more than $2bn, and operations in four countries and every state of Australia.

“The board understands and supports Clint’s decision to step back from his current role with Kelsian to support his family and is delighted he will remain actively involved as a strategic adviser on a part-time basis to align with his personal commitments,” she said.

“We recently made an announcement of our strategic portfolio review and our commitment to addressing underperforming assets, divesting of non-core assets and improvement to our return on invested capital.

“Commencing as our strategic adviser from 1 April 2025, Clint’s initial focus will be to deliver on these commitments and allow incoming group CEO, Graeme Legh, to focus on the global operations of the business.”

Ms Smith, who was elected to parliament in 2019, was recently deputy chair of a Senate inquiry into menopause.

Originally published as Kelsian managing director Clint Feuerherdt to step down