Akzo Nobel Shares Drop After Announcing Its CEO’s Leaving

Shares of Akzo Nobel NV (AS:AKZO), one of Europe’s largest paint manufacturers, shares dropped more than 3% on Tuesday after Gregoire Poux-Guillaume announced he would replace CEO Thierry Vanlancker.

The company said in November that after Vanlancker’s term expires, Poux-Guillaume will take over as head of the company. The move still needs shareholder approval and will be voted on at the extraordinary general meeting in September.

Prior to joining Akzo Nobel, Poux-Guillaume served as CEO of industrial engineering company Sulzer (SIX:SUN) and General Electric’s (NYSE:GE) renewable energy unit GE Grid Solutions. He was also a senior executive at private equity group CVC Capital Partners.

Akzo Nobel president Nils Smedegaard thanked Vanlancker for his service to the company and said he oversaw a major restructuring move that led to the refocusing of the business on paints and coatings.

Vanlancker’s departure comes shortly after the group issued a second-quarter profit warning earlier this month. Akzo Nobel said its paints and coatings business has been particularly hard hit by the 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 adjusted pre-tax revenue target of 2 billion euros for 2023.

Akzo Nobel will announce its second-quarter earnings on July 20.