ARMS CEO resigns as firm focuses on RI

JAKARTA. Asia Resource Minerals Plc, which split from Indonesia’s Bakrie family in a US$501 million deal three months ago, said Chief Executive Officer Nick von Schirnding has resigned from the coal producer, according to Bloomberg.

Following the split from the Bakries and with the company’s focus now on its sole Indonesian asset PT Berau Coal Energy, the board wants the CEO based in the Southeast Asian country, ARMS said on Thursday in a statement.

Von Schirnding won’t stand for re-election at the June 27 annual shareholders’ meeting. Amir Sambodo, now an independent non-executive director of ARMS and Berau commissioner, will take on the role from June 28, it said.

During Von Schirnding’s 18-month tenure, he has battled a slump in coal prices to a more than four-year low, a protracted and bitter dispute between founders the Bakries and financier Nathaniel Rothschild, and a fraud investigation into more than $200 million of missing funds from Berau. He also oversaw the completion of the company’s separation from the Bakries in March, resulting in $465 million being returned to investors.