The Australian Securities Exchange reversed its early gains with the S&P/ASX 200 closing down a marginal 3.30 points at 8,323 points on Thursday (21 November).
Over the last five days, the index has gained 1.20% and is currently 1.46% off its 52-week high.
Nine of the 11 sectors ended lower. Materials edged back 0.27% and industrials was down 0.21%.
Mineral Resources (ASX:MIN) held its annual general meeting today, with outgoing Managing Director, and founder, Chris Ellison fronting shareholders for the first time since allegations of tax misconduct surfaced.
“Many years ago, I was a partner in a private company and made an error of judgement with reporting of personal tax,” he told shareholders.
“I later went on to report it and subsequently paid penalties, interest and tax that was due and payable. I deeply regret the impact this has had on our business and our people.
“Looking back, I accept things could have and should have been done differently around corporate governance, but those measures are now in place. I’ve made some mistakes along the way; I own those mistakes and take full responsibility.”
The allegations saw MinRes lose over $2 billion in market value.
In early November, the miner announced that Ellison will step down and incur board-imposed financial penalties of $8.8 million, and loss of remuneration of up to $9.6 million.
The board aims to appoint a new Managing Director within the next 12 to 18 months.
Non-executive Chairman James McClements will also step down ahead of next year’s AGM once a suitable replacement has been found.
MinRes shares closed down 2.51% at $33.84 on Thursday.
Gold Road Resources (ASX:GOR) and Champion Iron (ASX:CIA) bucked the downward pull of the broader market to close up 3.27% at $1.90 and 3% at $5.49, respectively.
The S&P/ASX200 is Australia’s leading share market index and contains the top 200 ASX-listed companies in terms of market capitalisation, and accounts for about 80% of the country’s equity market. The index is designed to measure the performance of the 200 largest index-eligible stocks listed on the ASX by float-adjusted market capitalisation
It is recognised as the institutional investable benchmark in the country.
Write to Angela East at Mining.com.au
Images: Mineral Resources
