Germany's Ceconomy Is Likely to Appoint Interim CEO
October 16 2019 - 11:10AM
Dow Jones News
By Ulrike Dauer and Kim Richters
Ceconomy AG (CEC.XE) is likely to name an interim chief
executive after a board meeting to decide on the possible early
exit of its current CEO on Thursday, several people familiar with
the matter said Wednesday.
The German retailer's supervisory board is likely to replace the
company's current CEO Joern Werner with a temporary manager while
looking for a long-term successor, the people said.
When announcing the meeting late Tuesday, Ceconomy didn't give a
reason for the move. Mr. Werner has only been serving as CEO since
March.
According to the people, supervisory board member Bernhard
Duettmann could step in as interim CEO. He previously served as
temporary chief financial officer for the company after Ceconomy's
previous CEO Pieter Haas and CFO Mark Frese stepped down one year
ago.
Mr. Werner couldn't be reached for a comment, according to a
Ceconomy spokeswoman, and referred to Tuesday's statement.
Shortly after Mr. Werner took office earlier this year, the
company, known for its electronic retail brands and stores
MediaMarkt and Saturn, approved a restructuring program to cut
costs and reduce its workforce.
A potential early exit of Mr. Werner could thwart the
restructuring, Bryan Garnier analyst Clement Genelot said.
"Beyond the transformation plan, we wonder how Ceconomy will be
able to catch up on such a governance slippage with respect to
investors after a year in 2018 that was already very complicated,"
he said.
At 1527 GMT, shares in Ceconomy trade 2.7% lower at EUR4.99.
Write to Kim Richters at kim.richters@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
October 16, 2019 11:55 ET (15:55 GMT)
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