Cement producer PPC’s CEO has had his contract extended until 2030 as the group continues its turnaround strategy and has been awarded 10-million retention shares in the company valued at about R66.3m.The company said on Thursday Matias Cardarelli has agreed to extend his contract of employment to the end of March 2030, securing his leadership of the company through to the completion of the “Awaken the Giant” turnaround strategy.The extension aligns his tenure with the delivery of the group’s strategic plan to FY2030, the company said in a statement.“Since Mr Cardarelli’s appointment, PPC has been fundamentally repositioned. The group has delivered consecutive step-changes in earnings, margins, cash generation and returns on invested capital. Moreover, the company’s market capitalisation has more than doubled.”The company said this has been achieved without any improvement in the South African operating environment and is the outcome of strategic clarity, operational performance improvement and cost and capital discipline.Cardarelli was brought into the company just less than three years ago as part of its ambitious turnaround plans.This year alone its share price has risen 23%, giving it a current market capitalisation of R10.6bn. In the past five years its share price has increased almost 91%.“The turnaround strategy is, however, only half complete. The value delivered to date has come largely from a significant change in the way the business is run, a reset of culture, cost and commercial discipline,” the company said.The larger part of the opportunity lies ahead, with the completion and commissioning of the new state-of-the-art integrated cement plant in the Western Cape (RK3), with the next step-change in performance related to this anticipated in FY2028, it added.The group is focusing on the continued operational improvement of its South African plants and the optimisation and growth initiatives available in Zimbabwe. “Realising this value depends on sustained and consistent execution.”The board regards continuity of leadership as a material driver of shareholder value and has structured the contract extension, together with the share award, to align Cardarelli’s tenure and personal shareholding with the delivery of the group’s strategic plan in full, it said.“Matias has done what he undertook to do. He set out an honest diagnosis of this business, defined a clear plan and executed it with discipline. PPC today is a structurally stronger, more competitive and a more valuable company than the one he inherited,” said chair Jabu Moleketi.“The board is firmly of the view that continuity of leadership through this phase is in the best interests of the company and shareholders, and the right person to complete this turnaround is the person who started it.”Cardarelli said the past 32 months have demonstrated what PPC can deliver with an experienced team, a well-defined strategy and a healthy and transparent organisational culture. “What excites me most, however, is what is still ahead of us rather than what has already been achieved. The next phase of our operational and commercial turnaround, the start-up of the new integrated cement plant in the Western Cape, the ramp-up of our investments in renewal energies and the prospects of a new integrated cement plant in Zimbabwe, among other initiatives across our markets, represent opportunities for a further step-change in PPC performance.”The 10-million retention shares awarded to Cardarelli will vest on March 31 2030.Business Day