Delhaize Group, the Belgian international food retailer, has announced that president and CEO Pierre-Olivier Beckers is to retire from his executive role by the end of this year, although he will continue to serve as a company director.
As part of the group's succession plan, Beckers will stay in his post until a new CEO is appointed and a smooth transition has taken place.
'The Board of Directors is conducting a search for a successor and will consider both internal and external candidates,' the group noted. 'It is actively engaged in the process to facilitate a smooth and orderly transition of the CEO by the end of 2013.'
Beckers joined Delhaize Group in 1983, has been a director of the company since 1995 and was appointed President and CEO in January 1999.
'Pierre-Olivier Beckers has worked for Delhaize for 30 years with tireless energy and absolute passion, displaying very strong values and great respect for people,' said Mats Jansson, chairman of the board of directors. 'As shown by our recent results, business performance continues to strengthen following our initiatives over recent years. This positions the company well for the future and provides a great platform for his successor.'
Beckers called the job 'the most rewarding I can imagine', and praised the colleagues that he had worked with during his stint as president and CEO.
'The board of directors and I agree that the moment is right to put in place a successor who will lead the group and its evolution into the future,' he added. 'Until then I remain fully committed to leading and supporting the company and its 158,000 associates.'
Q1 success
The news of Beckers' impending departure coincided with the release of Delhaize's first quarter (Q1) results, with revenue growth coming in 2.1 per cent higher year-on-year at identical exchange rates.
Comparable store sales growth stood at 1.9 per cent in the US and 2.4 per cent in Belgium, with a group underlying profit margin of 3.9 per cent.
'We had a strong first quarter driven by positive revenue growth and profitability at Delhaize America and Delhaize Belgium, partly supported by favourable weather conditions,' reported Beckers. 'Food Lion repositioned stores continue to perform well, and in Belgium consumer patterns proved to be more robust than expected. Operations in south-east Europe were impacted by price investments in Greece and high inflation in other countries.'
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