Guinness Nigeria Plc, a subsidiary of Diageo Plc, has announced the appointment of John O’Keeffe as its Managing Director, He replaces Seni Adetu who has since retired from the company.
Guinness has in the past few years confronted with dwindling performance. For its financial year ended June 30, 2014, Guinness said it recorded a 19 per cent drop in its profit after tax (PAT).
The company’s audited result for the period, which it filed with the Nigerian Stock Exchange, showed that its PAT fell from N11.864 billion to N9.573 billion.
The company also said its profit before tax declined by 31 per cent to N11.682 billion from N17.009 billion the previous year, while its revenue estimated at N109.202 billion was 11 per cent lower than the N122.464 billion it posted a year earlier.
Commenting then, on the scenario, Adetu had attributed the decline in revenue and profit to what he called “pricing disadvantage, growth in the value segment where the company is a relatively small player, competitor’s aggressive trade practices and increased finance costs.”
After two and a half years, Adetu will be stepping down as Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of the company at the next board meeting in November.
Surprisingly, while Guinness has announced his removal and successor, it has not been able to announce a new posting for him, “Seni is to report to Nick Blazquez, President, Diageo Africa and Asia, starting from January 2015.
The details of Seni’s next role will be subject to a further announcement”, the company said in a statement.
O’Keeffe has been in Diageo for over 20 years, and has had a very strong career.
He started his career as a graduate trainee for Guinness Ireland, holding many marketing roles in Ireland before moving to Jamaica as Marketing Director.
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