Reckitt Says Four Of Its Top Leaders Will Depart Firm -- WSJ
September 05 2017 - 3:02AM
Dow Jones News
By Saabira Chaudhuri
This article is being republished as part of our daily
reproduction of WSJ.com articles that also appeared in the U.S.
print edition of The Wall Street Journal (September 5, 2017).
LONDON -- Reckitt Benckiser Group PLC said four senior
executives are leaving the firm, an unusually large exodus at a
time when the consumer giant, whose brands include Durex condoms
and Scholl foot-care products, is absorbing its biggest-ever
acquisition and coping with a series of headwinds.
Reckitt told employees last week that its chiefs for information
technology, human resources, developing markets and category
development are all leaving. The four are all members of its
10-strong senior executive committee.
The high number of departures took industry watchers by surprise
and spooked investors. Reckitt shares were trading down 1% early
Monday.
"RB has typically had low turnover among senior management, for
40% of the executive committee to leave simultaneously is, we
believe, essentially unprecedented in recent years," said Société
Générale analyst Iain Simpson.
A person familiar with the matter said the departures were all
voluntary, and the timing represents a "confluence of events."
Reckitt faces some of the same challenges as its larger peers
like Procter & Gamble Co. and Unilever PLC. Consumer tastes and
shopping habits have changed dramatically, in many cases dragging
on sales in markets around the world.
Reckitt has also been dealing with its own headwinds. Its sales
in South Korea were wiped out due to a consumer boycott after its
humidifier disinfectant was tied to dozens of deaths and
injuries.
It was also hit by the Petya cyberattack in June, which the
company said would hit sales.
Reckitt is currently integrating U.S. baby-food maker Mead
Johnson, which it bought for $16.6 billion in June. The deal almost
doubles the size of the British company's consumer-health business
and pushes it deeper into emerging markets, but Mead's growth has
been weaker than analysts expected since it agreed to be acquired
by Reckitt in February.
Reckitt confirmed Monday that Darrell Stein, Reckitt's
information technology head will leave on October 1. He will be
replaced by PepsiCo Inc. executive Seth Cohen, currently the
beverage giant's chief information officer for Europe and Africa.
Reckitt didn't provide details about the departure.
Deborah Yates, head of HR, is leaving at the end of year. She is
returning to her native Australia to be with her aging parents,
according to the person familiar with the matter. She will be
succeeded by Gurveen Singh, Reckitt's head of HR for developing
markets.
Frederic Larmuseau, Reckitt's developing markets head, is
leaving at the end of the year as well. He is taking on the chief
executive job of privately held JAB Holdings coffee unit Jacobs
Douwe Egberts. JAB has a roughly 8% stake in Reckitt and is led by
the consumer company's former CEO Bart Becht. Reckitt didn't
disclose a replacement for Mr. Larmuseau.
Roberto Funari, who heads category development -- a role that
involves working with retailers to drive sales -- is also leaving
at the end of the year, according to Reckitt. The company hasn't
named his successor.
Ms. Yates and Messrs. Larmuseau and Funari will all depart at
the end of the year. None of the four departing executives
responded immediately to requests for comment.
Write to Saabira Chaudhuri at saabira.chaudhuri@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
September 05, 2017 02:47 ET (06:47 GMT)
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