By Svea Herbst-Bayliss
BOSTON (Reuters) – Corteva Inc’s
Corteva, valued at $27 billion, became a publicly traded company last year after it was spun out of chemical giant DowDuPont
Corteva’s board discussed Collins’ future at a recent meeting and is fully supportive of him and management, the sources said, requesting anonymity because the matter is confidential.
A representative for Corteva declined to comment and Starboard did not return a call seeking comment.
Starboard CEO Jeffrey Smith has criticized Corteva’s financial performance, noting that its cash flow margin of 14.4% lags behind peers, and that its share price, now at $36.96, could be closer to $55. The company’s shares have climbed 44% in the last 52 weeks compared with a 14.35% in the S&P 500 Index.
Collins, who had previously been chief operating officer for the Agriculture Division of DowDuPont, was asked about performance on a quarterly earnings call earlier this month.
“We agree there is tremendous (cash flow) margin potential in this business. I don’t have to go out and invent that future. It’s sitting here right now. What we have to do is execute it,” Collins said.
Investors will soon have a chance to nominate directors at Corteva.
Starboard is known for its operational know-how and often proposes to add new directors to a company’s board. It won 17 board seats at four companies in the first half of 2020.
(Reporting by Svea Herbst-Bayliss in Boston; Editing by Stephen Coates)
