A week after surprising the market with news of a weak performance in its key Chinese markets and a loss in earnings momentum, Blackmores provided a second shock yesterday with news that its newish CEO had quit after just 18 months in the gig.
The company said Richard Henfrey, who has been with the company in a variety of executive roles since April 2009, will remain in the position while the board searches for a new CEO.
Blackmores did not provide a reason for the CEO’s departure.
The company’s chairman, Brent Wallace said in yesterday’s statement, “I would like to thank Richard for his service and leadership of the Group over the last 18 months and for his strong commitment to Blackmores, the industry and our stakeholders over his decade long tenure.”
“He has played a pivotal role in the growth of Blackmores and in the industry of complementary medicine overall. I am confident Richard will lead the transition period well, backed by our strong executive management team.”
The shares plunged 32% on Monday of last week after it revealed a shock 11% fall in its sales to China to $65 million in the six months to December 2018 and surprisingly cut its full-year outlook.
The company said part of the drop was due to Australian retailers changing their strategy to target the Chinese export market, competing with Blackmores’ own sales to the country.
The low last Monday was the lowest price since 2015 at $80.45. the shares ended the day at $$92.86, off nearly 25%.
Yesterday the shares sank further, dropping 3.9% to $91.47.
Overall, Blackmores reported sales up 11% to $319 million in its half-year with net profit after tax 0.4% higher at just over $34 million.
The company will pay a fully franked dividend of $1.50.
