Givaudan says chairman, CFO to retire as sales growth slows in Q3

[ZURICH] Givaudan said its chairman and finance chief will stand down next year, as the Swiss fragrance and flavour maker saw slower like-for-like sales growth in the third quarter of 2016.

Third-quarter sales totalled 1.184 billion Swiss francs (S$1.7 billion), Givaudan said in a statement. Like-for-like sales growth from July to September was 3.1 per cent, half the 6.2 per cent growth rate seen in the first half and short of a forecast for 3.4 per cent in a Reuters poll of seven analysts.

Givaudan also said Chairman Juerg Witmer will retire in March 2017 with Calvin Grieder proposed for election as his replacement.

Chief financial officer Matthias Waehren will also retire at the end of 2016 and Tom Hallam, currently head of group controlling and business development, will take over as CFO from Jan 1, Givaudan said.

REUTERS