Retail queen Jan Cameron says her spill of the Bellamy's Australia board will be good for the troubled baby formula maker and has put it on notice that she expects a quick turnaround.
"It's a win for shareholders and the company. It's the basis for renewal and change, cultural change in the company, and I'm very happy with the outcome," Ms Cameron said. "I think the [former] board has fallen down on being able to make good commercial decisions."
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Bellamyâs pricing a âshemozzleâ
At Bellamyâs EGM, shareholder Jan Cameron blames a sudden price increase in November 2015 for the companyâs downfall.
A new plan, she said, "needs to be set in place within the month."
Bellamy's extraordinary general meeting in Melbourne to vote on the push by disaffected shareholder Ms Cameron to replace the four independent directors with her own nominees was a fiery affair.
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While proxies rejected Ms Cameron's bid for a board seat, they voted in favour of Chan Wai-Chan and Sydney lawyer Rodd Peters becoming directors.
Her bid to replace Patria Mann failed, although Michael Wadley and Charles Sitch were both voted off the board.
Mr Wadley served as interim chairman of the meeting after chairman Rob Woolley resigned before it started. Director Launa Inman also resigned. Former CEO Laura McBain told media she would "do some gardening."
Despite failing to secure a board seat herself, Ms Cameron, co-founder of Kathmandu retail chain, said she was not unhappy at the outcome.
"No, because I think the incoming directors will actually be better than me, and the appointments they will make in the future will be more suited to the company's requirements," Ms Cameron said.
Ms Cameron's associate, Mr Peters, told angry shareholders his legal experience would come in handy at Bellamy's, which is facing the prospect of several class actions.
"We recognise it is a great Australian company but we do believe it has been failed by its board," he said, adding that an 18-month turnaround was too slow.
Bellamy's earlier told the market that in order to sell to China, it would need to be registered with the China Food and Drug Administration (CFDA) from January 1, 2018.
With Bega Cheese announcing this week it will sell its infant formula finishing plant at Derrimut in Victoria, Bellamy's told the market it "may need to seek CFDA registration discussion with other manufacturers, as well as Bega".
"Bellamy's has multiple alternatives available, including accessing the CFDA registration of an alternative canning line that currently produces Bellamy's products," it said.
"Bellamy's remains confident it can achieve registration of its infant formula product series with CFDA in a timely manner to preserve continuity of supply for [China] product beyond the implementation date of 1 January 2018."
Jerome Nugent-Smith, chairman and CEO of Montreux Management, said "unless Bellamy's achieves China CFDA Registrations by mid-2017, its future in China is cactus".
Tasmania-based Bellamy's was once a market darling thanks to strong demand from Chinese people wary of local dairy products and keen on organic products.
But it has been on a road to nowhere since its December 2 announcement that sales during China's Singles Day - the world's biggest online shopping day - were below its expectations.
After trading as high as $16.50 about in late 2015, its shares have crashed to $4.27 and remain in a trading halt.
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