(Reuters) -Vodafone finance chief Luka Mucic will likely be stepping down after lower than three years within the position, the cell group stated on Wednesday, in a shock transfer that might cloud the corporate’s prospects.
The shift in administration comes amid Vodafone’s efforts to revive deteriorating efficiency in its largest market, Germany. In February, its shares fell greater than 6% and erased positive factors made previously 12 months after Vodafone reported one other drop in service income within the Germany. They’ve recovered since, however fell 1.4% on Wednesday after Mucic’s transfer was introduced.
Mucic, 53, has taken up a proposal to be CEO of Germany’s largest landlord Vonovia SE, as the corporate swaps out its long-serving chief govt in a bid to recuperate from an industry-wide actual property hunch.
“While I sit up for the subsequent step in my profession again in my native Germany, it has been rewarding to assist form the transformation and I’ve the utmost confidence of Vodafone’s future success,” Mucic stated in an announcement.
JPMorgan analyst Akhil Dattani in a notice stated whereas Mucic’s departure from Vodafone will “clearly come as a shock,” and is a “main blow” for the corporate, “his need to pursue this new alternative, is comprehensible.”
The corporate has been hit by the top of pay-TV bulk contracts in house blocks in Germany, which got here into full impact final yr. It has warned that the monetary hit to that market would take a couple of quarters to clean by means of.
Mucic, a German nationwide who previously additionally served as finance chief at SAP, was appointed as Vodafone’s chief monetary officer in September 2023.
He will likely be stepping down no later than early 2026, the corporate stated.
Vodafone stated {that a} “rigorous” seek for his successor is ongoing, with an replace anticipated in the end.
JPMorgan’s Dattani stated it may show troublesome to determine and entice top-talent given the timing constraints imposed by the transfer, which may also increase issues about visibility.
Vodafone is ready to report its annual outcomes on Might 20.
(Reporting by Pushkala Aripaka in Bengaluru; Modifying by Mrigank Dhaniwala and Sharon Singleton)
