Contact Board appoints Mike Fuge as next CEO

17 September 2019
Contact Board appoints Mike Fuge as next
CEO
Contact Energy (Contact) is pleased to announce the conclusion of its search for a new
CEO with the appointment of Mike Fuge. The appointment follows Dennis Barnes, Contact’s
CEO, confirming to the Board in June that 2019 would be his last full year as Contact’s CEO.
Contact Chair, Rob McDonald said “The Board of Directors have appointed Mike Fuge as
Contact’s new CEO. Mike is currently CEO of Refining NZ prior to which he has a long
history in the energy sector, both in New Zealand and internationally. Before returning to NZ
to the Refining NZ role Mike was the Chief Executive of Pacific Hydro in Melbourne,
Australia – a global renewable energy owner, operator and developer. He has previously
held positions as the Chief Operating Officer at Genesis Energy and has also worked for
Royal Dutch Shell Group internationally.”
Rob McDonald said that “The Board are pleased to have appointed a CEO with strong
energy sector experience and capability to lead Contact’s strategy.”
The Board are yet to finalise a date for Mike to take up his new role, but it is expected to be
no later than 16 March 2020.
Rob McDonald, Contact’s Chair thanked Dennis Barnes for his leadership and commitment
to an orderly CEO transition and reiterated the comments he made on announcing the
commencement of the CEO search process: “In his more than eight years as the CEO of
Contact, Dennis Barnes has worked passionately to make Contact the high performing
organisation it is today.”
Mike is currently the Chief Executive of Refining NZ, a NZ listed issuer where he has led a
turnaround in safety performance and a fundamental revision of the corporate strategy in the
context of the carbon neutral ambitions of New Zealand. Prior to this role he was the Chief
Executive of Pacific Hydro based in Melbourne, Australia. Pacific Hydro is a global
renewable energy owner, operator and developer which has over 1 gigawatt of renewable
projects in operation or construction.
Details of the Chief Executive Officer Remuneration are in the attached Appendix.
Investor enquiries
Matthew Forbes
+64 21 072 8578

Media enquiries
Raphael Hilbron
+64 21 605 371

Appendix: Details of Chief Executive Officer Remuneration
Mike Fuge’s remuneration package as Chief Executive Officer of Contact reflects the
complexity of the role and the wide-ranging skills needed to do it well. The Board have
considered market remuneration data benchmarks; have linked remuneration to the
achievement of performance goals; and aligned it with the creation of sustainable
shareholder value in the long term. The total annual remuneration includes a fixed
remuneration component comprising cash salary of $1,150,000 (which includes any
allowances) (Base Salary), short-term incentives (cash and equity awarded through
deferred share rights) and long-term incentives (equity awarded through performance share
rights) described below. The Chief Executive Officer has a six month notice period.

Pay for performance remuneration breakdown:
Scheme Description Performance measure
Cash STI
Cash STI is a discretionary
scheme based on
achievement of KPI’s.
Maximum potential set at
50% of Base Salary.
Payment of this STI is dependent upon the CEO
meeting KPIs (with both Company performance
and individual performance measures) set by
the Board at the beginning of each financial
year.
Equity STI
(awarded as
deferred share
rights)
Equity STI allows the CEO to
acquire shares at a $0
exercise price subject to the
time-bound exercise hurdle
being achieved. Maximum
potential set at 30% of Base
Salary.
The exercise hurdle to receive Deferred Share
Rights is to remain employed by Contact 2
years from the grant date.
Equity LTI
(awarded as
performance
share rights)
Equity LTI allows the CEO to
acquire shares at the
specified exercise price
subject to the exercise
hurdle being achieved. Set
at 35% of Base Salary.
The exercise hurdle to receive Performance
Share Rights is Contact’s relative total
shareholder return (TSR) ranking within an
energy industry peer group of other New
Zealand NZX50 listed utilities companies.
Tested once, at year 3.