Rio Tinto appoints iron ore boss Simon Trott as CEO

By Melanie Burton and Clara Denina

MELBOURNE/LONDON (Reuters) -Rio Tinto on Tuesday named Simon Trott, the head of its iron ore division, as its new chief executive officer, replacing Jakob Stausholm, who announced his intention to step down in May.

Trott, a more than 20-year veteran at the world's biggest iron ore miner, has led the engine of the company's profit for the past four years. He will take over the duties of group CEO effective August 25.

Trott's appointment has come swiftly on the heels of the surprise news of Stausholm's departure and his appointment will raise hopes in Australia for a locally domiciled CEO.

"It's a relatively safe appointment," said Kaan Peker at RBC in Sydney.

"He knows the iron ore business very well and that's the main driver of free cashflow and earnings. Obviously he has proven himself in the eyes of the chair."

Trott brought to market Rio Tinto's biggest iron ore mine in more than a decade in Western Australia and is building out a huge programme of replacement tons.

"Simon and the Board are aligned that Rio Tinto's next phase is about unlocking significant value for shareholders from our portfolio, driven by operational performance, and cost and financial discipline," chair Dominic Barton said in a statement.

Trott, who also served as the miner's chief commercial officer from 2018 to 2021, has faced pushback from investors because the quality of ore in Rio's exports has dropped during his tenure and the miner has struggled to reach the top end of its production forecast.

Stausholm, who oversaw a big bet on lithium and expansions in iron ore and copper, was named CEO in 2020 as the miner grappled with legal, public and investor angst over the destruction of Australia's ancient Juukan Gorge rock shelters, which led to the ousting of its former CEO.

(Reporting by Sameer Manekar and Shivangi Lahiri in Bengaluru, Clara Denina and Melanie Burton in Melbourne; Editing by Sonia Cheema and Jacqueline Wong)