The mining services giant declined to provide any more clarification on FY16 earnings guidance from November because it was "too early … to provide any further update" on "challenging conditions".

Mr Broomhead used his first speech to shareholders at Orica's annual meeting in Melbourne on Friday to emphasise renewal under the new chief Alberto Calderon, a former BHP executive who was appointed to the role last March.

Mr Broomhead, who led Orica from 2001 to 2005, said the company had "changed in many ways" since he had left."The performance of your company in recent times has been very disappointing and unacceptable," he said.

"The earnings-per-share performance – even before the recent mining industry downturn, the need to write down assets and an internal culture have not been as we would have wished or as you would have accepted."

Mr Smith left the company suddenly in March after incidents involving aggressive behaviour.

Mr Broomhead said Orica's recent disappointing financial performance – including a $1.69 billion asset writedown, which led to a $1.23 billion loss in the year to September 30 – was "driven by poor capital allocation decisions on the one hand" and a "domineering culture and lack of transparency on the other hand". 

'Painful but necessary'

He said the writedown, which shocked the market when it was flagged in August, was "painful but necessary.

"The strategy at Orica at this point is simple – to improve the existing business and to realise the full potential of our existing assets."

Mr Broomhead was confident Mr Calderon could turn around the company, saying he had "impeccable credentials" and had "taken fast action to renew the management team".

Such actions have included introducing a new operating model aimed at making regional executives more accountable for their division's financial performance. Previously only the chief executive could access regional earnings data.

Mr Calderon said he expected commodity prices to remained subdued and said the "environment remained very challenging for us and our customers.

"To illustrate, since early September 2015, the thermal coal price has fallen by about 16 per cent, iron ore a further 20 per cent, the copper price has dropped by 20 per cent and oil by 49 per cent," he said.

"In addition, uncertainty about China's growth rate and economic outlook will continue to drive market volatility more generally."

'Solid reasons' for optimism

For these reasons, Mr Calderon said it was too early to update the company's guidance from November when he indicated there could be "some improvement" in earnings before interest and tax.

But he was confident that miners would increase their production volumes, saying the current low levels – which lead to a reduction in explosives – was "unsustainable" in the long term.

"We consider [the lower volumes] temporary and recoverable over the medium term, with the majority of the $135 million impact of lower volumes due to miners deviating from mine plans or reducing production.

"We have solid reasons to feel optimistic about the prospects of our company, despite challenging market conditions we currently face."

Mr Calderon said Orica was "uniquely positioned", being number one or number two in the world's key mining markets.

"Our industry is at the beginning of everything. All roads, tunnels, mines have to start with explosives.

"The world still needs roads, infrastructure, buildings and the like. Our products are fundamental to the world's development.

"Despite the mining downturn, the world will, in the medium and longer term, continue to increase its demand for commodities like copper and aluminium, and even coal is expected to grow about 2 per cent a year."

Orica shares were 2 per cent higher at $14.11 in trade on Friday.