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Reckitt Benckiser CFO Jeff Carr has handed in his notice, with the multinational consumer goods group appointing a replacement from Nike to take over the role.
Carr notified the Dettol, Nurofen and Gaviscon owner of his intention to retire on 31 March 2024 after four years as CFO.
Shannon Eisenhardt will join Reckitt on 17 October as CFO designate to succeed Carr.
She joins from athletic footwear and apparel giant Nike, where she currently works as CFO for the consumer, brand and marketplace division of the group.
Prior to taking on her current role, Eisenhardt led the finance team for Nike in North America and in emerging markets. Before joining Nike in 2015, she spent close to two decades at P&G in a range of finance roles working at corporate, country and regional levels.
“I am excited to be joining Reckitt as CFO,” she said. “The business is built on strong brands with category-leading positions, a unique entrepreneurial culture and a clear and compelling strategy for growth.
“I look forward to working with Kris Licht, Jeff Carr and the management team to help deliver outperformance.”
Carr joined Reckitt in 2020 as the group launched its transformation programme.
Reckitt said Carr had ensured the programme’s delivery despite the challenges of Covid and geo-political crises, and added he had been “instrumental” in “driving financial discipline, leading our world-class productivity programme, reducing our net debt, and driving sustainable long-term shareholder value”.
Carr said: “It has been a great privilege to serve as CFO of Reckitt.
“It is an exceptional company with great brands and talented colleagues. Under the leadership of Kris and Shannon, the business is well-placed to win and grow and I look forward to watching its continued success.”
Reckitt chairman Chris Sinclair added: “On behalf of the board and the entire company, I would like to sincerely thank Jeff for his excellent service to Reckitt.
“Jeff began his career in Reckitt and returned in 2020 because of his commitment to the company and the fantastic opportunity to grow its leading brands. He has been instrumental in driving our strategic and cultural transformation, embedding a strong capital allocation process and delivering a world-class productivity programme over the past three and a half years. He is a highly valued member of the executive committee and board.”
Sinclair said Eisenhardt brought “extensive experience” across consumer and retail, as well as “an impressive and highly relevant international background”.
“Shannon is a proven strategic and operational leader with a track-record of building highly successful teams and delivering strong and consistent performance.”
Shares in Reckitt moved 0.8% higher to 5,649.58p this morning as markets opened.
Morning update
Agricultural group Wynnstay has appointed Rob Thomas as finance director following a recruitment process to find a sucessor for Paul Roberts, who retires next year.
Thomas joins the group on 2 October as finance director designate, taking over from Roberts - who will remain with Wynnstay in a consultancy role - on 2 January.
Thomas has “significant” financial and commercial experience in senior roles, including in the agricultural and the supply chain sectors. He joins from EFS Global, the UK-based logistics provider, where he was group finance director.
Before that, he worked at NWF Group, the specialist distributor of fuel, food and feed, for eight years until 2022. For the majority of his time there, he was finance director of the feeds division, NWF Agriculture, which manufactures and supplies animal feeds to livestock farmers across the UK.
Wynnstay added he also had significant experience of M&A and strategic planning.
Chairman Steve Ellwood said: “We are delighted to welcome Rob Thomas to Wynnstay as group finance director, and at the same time to acknowledge Paul Roberts’ outstanding contribution during his long tenure with the group.
“On behalf of the board and all his colleagues, I would like to thank Paul for his hard work and astute counsel over many years and to wish him all the very best in his retirement. It is typical of his commitment that he remains available to us as Rob establishes himself.
“Rob is an excellent fit, bringing financial and commercial experience of our sector, and we look forward to working with him.”
The FTSE 100 is back up another 0.4% to 7,298.28pts this morning.
Early risers include Kerry Group, AG Barr and THG, up 2.8% to €83.64, 0.9% to 481p and 0.9% to 87.2p respectively.
Deliveroo is down 2% to 112.5p, while Science in Sport is 1.6% lower at 13.5p and Hotel Chocolat is down 1.2% to 103.3p.
Yesterday in the City
The FTSE 100 nudged up 0.2% to 7,274.71pts yesterday.
Risers included Virgin Wines UK, up 6.1% to 41.9p, C&C Group, up 4.2% to 135.4p, and Deliveroo, up 1.5% to 114.4p.
Just Eat Takeaway and Greencore were among the fallers, down 2.7% to 1,069.6p and 1.3% to 82p respectively.
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