One of the S&P/ASX 200 Index's (ASX: XJO) most gender imbalanced boards is taking a huge step towards gender diversity. Perseus Mining Limited (ASX: PRU) today announced it will welcome Amber Banfield to the role of non-executive director, starting tomorrow.
Banfield's appointment means 28.5% of those on the gold mining company's board will now be women.
While that's still a way off the leaders of gender equality among ASX 200 companies – 110 have more than 30% female board memberships – it's a positive step for the company.
According to Bloomberg, earlier this year Perseus was in the bottom 5% of ASX 200 companies in terms of female representation on its board. Before today, only 17%, or one in six, of its board members were women.
Let's take a closer look at the new appointment.
New non-executive director
Banfield will be taking on the newly created role of chair of the board's audit and risk committee. She will be responsible for overseeing Perseus' ESG functions.
She is currently global manager of mergers and acquisitions at Worley Ltd (ASX: WOR), the world's largest energy and resources engineering services provider.
Banfield has worked with Worley for 20 years, having previously held the role of global strategy director. Her responsibilities have included developing and implementing an energy transition strategy to grow the decarbonisation of businesses, using measures such as hydrogen and renewable energy.
Banfield has a Bachelor of Engineering (Environmental and Civil) and a Master of Business Administration.
Following her appointment, the board Perseus now comprises seven people, two of whom are women.
Commentary from management
Perseus managing director and CEO Jeff Quartermaine commented on Banfield's appointment, saying:
Speaking on behalf of our [chair] Sean Harvey and the entire board of Perseus, it is a pleasure to welcome non-executive director, Amber Banfield, to the board of Perseus… As a board and management team, we look forward very much to working with Amber as we collectively strive to firmly establish Perseus as a profitable, reliable and sustainable mid-tier gold mining company.
Perseus share price snapshot
Unfortunately, news of the company's appointment has not been sufficient to lift the Perseus share price today. At the time of writing, Perseus shares are trading 4.25% lower at $1.24.
The Perseus share price has fallen by around 8% year to date. It has, however, gained 16% over the last 12 months.
The company has a market capitalisation of around $1.6 billion, with approximately 1.2 billion shares outstanding.
