focus on north america

Molopo's new recruit helps focus on North America
Street Talk - AFR 18/3/11

The new directors of oil and gas company MPO have not exactly had a smooth start to life after winning control of the company in a messy board spill earlier this year.

The new directors, led by Max Beck, successfully tipped out the old board just over a month ago after promising to end a recent record of underperformance.

Since then, MPO's share price has fallen from $1.05 before the vote to as low as 80c this week. Given MPO has a liquid cash backing of about 75c to 80c a share, it's been a frustrating drop for the new team. The recent market carnage hasn't helped the cause, but it's worth noting that MPO had already fallen to 98c before Japan's earthquake.

Not helping things has been ongoing government-ordered delays to drilling plans at its project in Quebec, a play that the new directors had hoped to advance quite quickly. The new MPO managed to deliver on one of its key objectives yesterday reinforcing its board with the appointment of the former president of Shell Canada, Brian Straub, as a non executive director.

Straub, who is based in Calgary is a big recruit for MPO and signals the company's increased focus on North America. The new board is a month into a 3 month strategic review that among other things will re-examine the idea for a North American listing.

MPO is also targeting another director appointment in the next month or so, with the company sitting on a shortlist of candidates with strong financial backgrounds.