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Investing.com — Shares in Akzo Nobel NV (AS:AKZO) fell by more than 3% on Tuesday, after Europe’s biggest paintmaker announced that Gregoire Poux-Guillaume will replace Thierry Vanlancker as new chief executive.
Poux-Guillaume will take over at the helm of the company in November, following the end of Vanlancker’s term, the company said. The move still needs shareholder approval and will be voted on at an extraordinary general meeting in September.
Before joining Akzo Nobel, Poux-Guillaume served as chief executive at industrial engineering company Sulzer (SIX:SUN) and General Electric’s (NYSE:GE) renewable energy unit GE Grid Solutions. He was also a senior managing director at private equity group CVC Capital Partners.
Akzo Nobel chairman Nils Smedegaard thanked Vanlancker for his service to the company in a statement, saying he oversaw a key restructuring push that led to a refocusing of the business on paints and coatings.
Vanlancker’s departure comes shortly after the group issued a profit warning for the second quarter earlier this month. Akzo Nobel said the paints and coatings unit had been hit particularly hard by tough COVID restrictions in China and sluggish demand in Europe.
The company added that recent market volatility had a “material impact” on its quarterly performance, but not enough to derail its 2023 adjusted pre-tax income target of €2B.
Akzo Nobel will report its second quarter earnings on July 20.
