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Bellamy's CEO Laura McBain to leave company in wake of $500m share plunge

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Bellamy's Australia chief executive Laura McBain will leave the company in a move that has sent the company's share price into another tailspin.

Bellamy's board voted to remove Ms McBain as chief executive at a meeting on Wednesday, company insiders told Fairfax Media, after weeks of internal ructions over who should lead the company. 

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Who is Laura McBain?

Bellamy's CEO Laura McBain has been widely credited for transforming the family-run local company to a global brand.

In her place, Bellamy's has appointed Andrew Cohen as the acting chief executive. He joined the company last year, as the chief operations and strategy officer.

After trading as high as $16.50 this time last year, Bellamy's shares collapsed to a low of $6.80 on December 2, after the company released a shock trading update that revised its China sales downward.

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Investors reacted swiftly to the ructions at the top of the company slashing hundreds of millions off its worth, with the shares down a heavy 31.4 per cent at $4.68 soon after the lengthy trading suspension was removed. Bargain hunting resulted in the shares ending sharemarket trading down by a fifth at $5.38.

Bellamy's went into a trading halt in mid-December in the wake of a report in BusinessDay that raised concerns over how far back its formula sales had been under pressure. Bellamy's has been suspended from trading on the ASX ever since.

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The infant formula and baby food company is facing a class action lawsuits from legal giant Maurice Blackburn as well as two other other firms on behalf of angry shareholders, in the wake of a $500 million rout of its share price.

The class action follows a BusinessDay report, which revealed that Bellamy's market share in Australia collapsed between April and October this year. The confidential Aztec data, showing supermarket and pharmacy sales, revealed that Bellamy's market share plunged from 25 per cent of the domestic infant formula sales in April to just 12 per cent by October. In dollar terms, Bellamy's went from earning one in every four dollars spent on baby formula in the country to just one in nine.

Despite the massive decline, Bellamy's failed to issue a single update to the market or investors that warned of issues that may impact the company's bottom line.

In 2013, Ms McBain was crowned Telstra's businesswoman of the year and has been feted in corporate and marketing circles.

Along with the departure of Ms McBain, Bellamy's said it has reviewed all existing positions in the executive team, appointing a new chief financial officer, with the present incumbent, Shona Ollington, sidelined. She is being replaced by  Nigel Underwood, who has most recently worked for Koelis​ Downer, a transport operator.

Bellamy's chairman Rob Woolley said the board will look for a permanent replacement for Ms McBain, although no indication has been given of how long this process may take.

Ms McBain will continue to work with Bellamy's on "outstanding matters" until March 31, and Mr Woolley thanked her for her "contributions".

Mr Cohen joined Bellamy's in June, and received options worth $1.27 million a matter of weeks later. His fixed remuneration is $820,000 a year, along with both short and long term incentives.

As part of a series of operational changes, Bellamy's has done a deal with New Zealand's dairy group Fonterra giving it the right to terminate an agreement to supply Bellamy's with product if Fonterra considers a group of shareholders with more than 30 per cent of Bellamy's shares is in a position of control of the company.

The significance of this clause lies in the fact that a group of investors, including Jan Cameron, the founder of the Kathmandu retailing chain, claims to speak for as much as 35 per cent of Bellamy's shares. This group is seeking to take board control by dumping independent directors.

"Fonterra has a strong relationship with Bellamy's, and together we have agreed to amend the five-year strategic manufacturing agreement by a further three years to ensure the sustainability and growth of the supply arrangement," Fonterra said in a statement.

Bellamy's chairman, Rob Woolley, refused to give further details of the deal with Fonterra, but he did confirm there has been no approach which could lead to a change in the control of Bellamys, while also ruling out the need to raise more funds from investors.

Bellamy's has suffered from sluggish sales into the China market, which has prompted concern from a group of shareholders which includes a mysterious offshore group, the Black Prince Private Foundation, which has emerged as the infant formula group's largest shareholder.Â