Imperial Brands, which has been looking for a new chairman to replace Mark Williamson since February, has named its senior independent director Thérèse Esperdy as his replacement.
The board said: “Her international executive experience and the acute understanding she has of the business, the sector we operate in and the concerns of investors, many of whom were consulted during the recruitment process, is invaluable. Today’s announcement provides stability through the Chief Executive Officer recruitment process, which is a key priority for Thérèse.”
The company has already said its CEO Alison Cooper will leave.
Imperial Brand has also published results, describing 2019 as a “challenging year with results below our expectations”.
This is because of tough trading in next generation products (NGP) such as e-cigarettes.
“We are implementing actions to drive a stronger performance in the coming year. Our resilient tobacco value creation model continues to produce high margin sales growth and is well-placed to deliver sustained profitable growth in the years ahead,” the company said.
Pre-tax profit fell to £1.69bn from £1.83bn.
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