Dive Brief:
- Orbia CFO Jim Kelly will retire after five years in the seat effective March 15, the industrial products company announced Wednesday in a press release.
- “Following a structured succession process, the board of directors has appointed Cristian ‘Cape’ Capellino, a senior leader within Orbia’s global finance organization,” to serve as Kelly’s successor in the top finance seat, the Mexico-based company said in the release. Kelly will remain with the company through the middle of the year to help ensure a smooth transition, according to the release.
- Orbia announced the planned CFO transition one day after reporting earnings results for its fourth quarter and full-year 2025, with both Kelly and Orbia CEO Sameer Bharadwaj noting continued progress in its plan to reduce costs and improve its operating performance, first outlined in 2024, during the company’s earnings call Tuesday. The company delivered cumulative annual cost savings of approximately $200 million by the end of 2025 relative to the end of its 2023 cost base, and has achieved “approximately 80% of our targeted $250 million in savings per year by 2027,” Kelly said during the call.
Dive Insight:
Kelly joined Orbia in 2021 as its finance chief, coming out of a brief year-long period of retirement to take the seat, according to his LinkedIn profile. Prior to joining the industrial products company, he held various finance positions at chemical company Cabot Corporation, including serving as corporate controller.
During his nearly five year tenure at Orbia’s financial helm, Kelly “played a critical role in reinforcing financial and capital allocation discipline, enhancing reporting and internal controls and guiding the company through a dynamic global environment with a clear focus on balance sheet strength, cash generation and long-term value creation,” the company said in the press release announcing his coming retirement.
His successor Capellino first joined the company in March 2020 as its VP of finance, global controllership, taxes and FP&A, according to his LinkedIn profile. He has held his current role as VP of finance transformation since January 2022. Before Orbia, he held numerous CFO roles for oil and gas firm Tenaris, and began his career at Big Four firm Deloitte.
The CFO transition is occurring as the business continues to “remain relentlessly focused on exercising strong financial discipline,” Bharadwaj said during the earnings call, according to a transcript. The CEO described the global market conditions Orbia faced last year as “generally challenging, particularly across construction and infrastructure-related activities and regionally in much of Europe and Mexico.”
As such, leadership is continuing to seek out new opportunities to strengthen its balance sheet and “drive cash generation to support our long-term strategic objectives,” Bharadwaj said.
Orbia credited “disciplined operational and financial management” for enabling it to stay resilient in “weak market conditions,” according to its Tuesday earnings release.
The company reported net revenue of $1.9 billion for Q4 2025, a 5% jump from the prior year period, according to its earnings results. Operating cash flow increased by $67 million to $349 million, driven primarily by “efficient working capital management and the absence of last year’s adverse currency impacts, partially offset by net interest paid and higher taxes,” the company said.
