Tiger Brands' board of directors decision to push Noel Doyle to resign as CEO has boosted the investors confidence as its shares surged above 11 percent at 17:00 on Friday,20 October 2023.
The company announced the sacking of the CEO on Friday morning and replaces him with Tjaart Kruger.
Doyle has been on helm of Tiger Brands since January 2020 and he did all on his power to ensure that it remain competitive during difficult moments in South Africa as the country's economy was affected by COVID-19 pandemic and others.
According to company,during his tenure as CEO,Noel and his team were required to navigate the challenges of Covid-19,civil unrest,global supply changes and high levels of inflation.In this period the Company's underlying operating profit trajectory was stabilised and there have been many significant improvements in key internal operating metrics.The Board thanks Noel for his contribution over 20 years of service with Tiger Brands and wishes him well for the future.
He will relinquish all positions he was occupying in the group such as executive director and member of the social,ethics and transformation committee.
A newly-appointed CEO will commence his duties on 1 November 2023,and he is known for his role as the CEO of Premier Foods over the period of 2011-2021,and he successfully led Premier Foods' expansion and growth strategy.
Actually,Kruger worked for Tiger Brands between 2001-2007 where he was managing director of the pharmaceuticals and grains divisions.
He is a qualified Chartered Accountant(CA) with a PMD from Havard Business School and he armed with more than 30 years of experience of leadership working for various leading FCMG companies in the country.
An outgoing CEO will continue to be with the company until 31 March 2024 because he is expected to do proper handover to a new incumbent.
Tiger Brands has revealed that Kruger will be with them just only for 26 months and during these months the board of the company will be seeking his successor.
The change of the company leadership news was accompanied by the voluntarily trading statement for the year ended 30 September 2023.
The company mentioned that the Group's operating income for the year will end lower than the previous year 2022 results.
The company has complained about the high cost of retrenchment which amount to R100 million and that affects the group's cost reduction initiatives,which will end ahead of the R460 million target previously guided.
The company advised its shareholders to expect a decline of -9% and -2% (or between -159 cents and -35 cents) in earnings per share(EPS) from total operations for the year ended 30 September 2023.
Tiger Brands is one of the South African oldest and largest food producer ,and it was founded more than 100 years ago in Johannesburg.
The company is responsible for South Africa's famous food brands such as Aunt Caroline,Albany,Koo,Black Cat,Golden Cloud,King Korn and many other brands.