Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc. (AMB) – Get report He said Monday that CEO Stefano Pessina will step down after five years at the helm of the pharmacy group.
Pessina, 79, will transition to the role of CEO, with incumbent President Jim Skinner aside to make room for the Italian-born billionaire investor, who remains Walgreens Boots’ largest single shareholder. The company said it will begin searching for a new CEO immediately.
“I want to thank our team members around the world for their great achievements in the past five years as we have fulfilled our purpose of helping people lead healthier and happier lives,” said Pessina. “I look forward to continuing to serve the company as CEO and help ensure the success of the new CEO in every possible way.”
“I am also very pleased that Jim and I continue to work together on the board, and on behalf of the entire company, we greatly appreciate all of his contributions during his time as CEO,” he added.
Shares of Walgreens Boots, a component of Dow, were down 1.4% in early trading after the CEO’s new departure to change hands at $ 39.77 each, a move that would leave stocks with a 32% decrease to date.
The stock, in fact, has fallen 58.4% since Pessina was named CEO in July 2015, compared to a 49.6% gain for the Dow Jones Industrial Average in the same time period.
Earlier this month, Walgreens Boots posted weaker-than-expected third-quarter earnings and suspended its share buyback program, as home stay orders in key markets around the world achieved the retailer’s best results.
Walgreens said adjusted earnings for the three months ending May, the group’s fiscal third quarter, were set at 83 cents a share, 43.5% less than the same period last year and firmly below the Street consensus of $ 1.18 per share. The group’s revenue, Walgreens said, rose 0.1% from last year to $ 34.6 billion, just ahead of analyst estimates for a $ 34.35 billion account.
Walgreens also said its biggest quarterly success came from the UK, where it operates under the Boots brand and racked up charges equivalent to $ 2 billion, and the company revealed plans to cut some 4,000 jobs as a result.
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