Consumer goods giants Nestle SA and Unilever Plc are gearing up for a changing of the guard as they replace their veteran chief financial officers. The move comes as inflation pressures persist and the industry grapples with a cost-of-living crisis. The new CFOs will be tasked with stemming the erosion of market share without overspending on advertising or developing new products, which could threaten profitability.
Anna Manz, the finance chief for the London Stock Exchange Group, will take over from Nestle's current CFO, Francois-Xavier Roger, when she leaves her current role. Manz, aged 50, will become the first female CFO in Nestle's 157-year history and the most senior woman in the company. Last week, Nestle also named Stephanie Pullings Hart, a former executive, as its next head of operations.
Meanwhile, Unilever's Graeme Pitkethly plans to retire by the end of May next year. The finance executive will be working with a new CEO starting in July as Hein Schumacher of Royal FrieslandCampina takes over from Alan Jope. Other companies in the industry, such as Reckitt Benckiser Group Plc and Carlsberg A/S, are also hiring new bosses.
During Roger and Pitkethly's tenure, both Nestle and Unilever doubled shareholders' money when including reinvested dividends. Roger, aged 61, helped steer Nestle through a period of impressive growth even as the pandemic caused supply shortages, disruption and uneven demand in recent years. He has managed more than 100 deals, including the sale of Nestle’s dermatology business, purchase of licenses to sell coffee products under the Starbucks brand, and the divestment of part of the company's stake in L'Oreal SA. The last years of Pitkethly’s 21-year stint at Unilever have been more chaotic as the company committed to margin improvement and cost-cutting to rebuff a takeover by Kraft Heinz Co. in 2017. They also failed to unify their corporate structure in 2018 and made an unsuccessful attempt to buy the consumer-health arm of UK drugmaker GSK Plc.
Despite investor frustration, much of Unilever's top brass has remained the same, so a broader overhaul is expected after Schumacher starts as CEO. Unilever shares fell as much as 1.6% in London trading, while shares of Nestle also fell as much as 1.7% in Swiss trading at the news of Roger's departure.