BRUSSELS (Reuters) – Heineken NV, the world’s second largest beer maker, said on Monday it will replace its chief financial officer as it continues with an overhaul of its leadership and embarks on a major cost-saving plan.
Laurence Debroux, who took up her role in 2015, will step down after the Dutch brewer holds its annual shareholder meeting on April 22, and be succeeded on June 1 by Harold van den Broek, currently head of hygiene at Reckitt Benckiser.
The new chief financial officer will focus on returning operating profit margins to pre-pandemic levels by 2023. The company has already detailed its “Evergreen” plan to save 2 billion euros and cut about 8,000 jobs..
“He has led large scale business transformations, has decades of consumer goods experience and brings fresh external perspective,” Heineken CEO Dolf van den Brink said of Van den Broek.
Heineken shares were 1.2% higher at 88.20 euros at 1100 GMT. They have been among the hardest hit in the drinks sector due to coronavirus restrictions in Europe, where Heineken is the biggest brewer, and production shutdowns in major markets Mexico and South Africa.
Since it was announced in February 2020 that long-time Heineken employee Van den Brink would become CEO, seven new faces have joined the company’s 11-person executive team. Van den Broek will be the eighth.
The brewer of Heineken, Sol and Tiger lager has also appointed new heads of its Europe and Asia Pacific divisions – the latter of which was run by Van den Brink before he assumed the CEO role in June last year – and new chief commercial, people, corporate affairs, supply chain and digital officers.
Only its presidents for the Americas and for Africa, the Middle East and Eastern Europe have remained.
(Reporting by Philip Blenkinsop; Editing by Kirsten Donovan)
