From Calgary Herald “Lau leaving behind a changed company – Husky CEO turned around ailing firm” (emphasis added),
Lau, who took the reins of the storied company in 1993, is credited with transforming once-troubled Husky into one of Canada’s largest energy firms. In January, the Harvard Business Review named him one of the world’s best-performing CEOs. […]
What was supposed to be a temporary assignment for the young accountant from Hong Kong stretched into nearly two decades at the head of one of Calgary’s largest energy players after he was personally handed the task of turning the company around by Li Ka-shing, one of the richest men in the world.
Lau took the reins of Husky at a time when the debt-laden producer was bleeding hundreds of millions of dollars in red ink, with a debt to cash flow ratio of about 15 times. After a painful restructuring, he returned the company to profitability and lowered debt in line with industry standards, to two times cash flow, in less than five years.
Once the company was back on stable ground, Lau steered Husky onto a growth path by expanding the company’s retail network and making big investments in heavy oil and oilsands, and the East Coast off shore. In the process, Lau showed his skills as a shrewd deal-maker with a series of well-timed acquisitions that cemented the company’s recovery.
