Top story

MillerCoors, the US and Puerto Rican joint venture between SABMiller and Molson Coors has named Gavin Hattersley to the role of chief executive officer. 

He follows former CEO Tom Long, who retired on June 30. Hattersley, 52, had been serving as the interim CEO of MillerCoors since July 1, in addition to his role as chief financial officer of Molson Coors.

Pete Coors, chairman of MillerCoors and vice chairman of Molson Coors said: “Gavin has a great handle on what needs to be done to achieve growth at MillerCoors and he has the complete confidence of the Board, the employees and the distributor network to achieve this aspiration.”

“Gavin knows both parent companies incredibly well and he knows the MillerCoors business better than anyone,” said Alan Clark, chief executive of SABMiller. “In his few short months as interim leader, he has quickly taken action across a number of areas. He has shown a deep understanding of the strategic issues facing the business and the need to prioritize returning MillerCoors to total volume growth in the years ahead.”

Hattersley’s appointment is effective immediately. Molson Coors has begun the process of identifying Hattersley’s successor as CFO. Hattersley will remain in a dual capacity as MillerCoors CEO and CFO of Molson Coors until mid-November.

Morning update 

The US owner of Tilda and Ella’s Kitchen, Hain Celestial, has got a new CFO. Pasquale Conte becomes executive vice president and chief financial officer, effective 8 September 8. Conte was previously senior vice president, finance and treasurer, having joined Hain Celestial in 2009 after acting as a financial consultant to the company previously.

“Pat has been an integral part of our finance team for over five years, where he has been a key leader in working to drive our continued growth and success over the last several years,” said Irwin Simon, chief executive Officer of Hain Celestial. “Pat’s deep understanding of consumer goods, his forward thinking and tenure at the company make him a natural candidate to help us to continue to growth both organically and through acquisitions on a global basis.”

Yesterday afternoon Terra Firma confirmed reports that former Sainsbury’s boss Justin King was joining the private equity giant as vice chairman and head of portfolio business.

Guy Hands, chairman and chief investment officer of Terra Firma said: “This is a great fit for both sides. Terra Firma has been transforming businesses for over 20 years and currently has a diverse portfolio of businesses in various stages of development. Justin has turned around and run businesses in various sectors. He will be able to harness Terra Firma’s substantial operational expertise and drive forwards Terra Firma’s agenda with its existing portfolio”

Justin King said: “I am looking forward to working with Guy and the team and to playing my part in Terra Firma’s hands-on approach to transforming businesses”.

Elsewhere, it’s a quieter morning after yesterday’s rush of news, but is only a pause in proceedings before a glut of retail updates tomorrow including John Lewis Group and Morrisons.

The FTSE 100 is continuing to recover the lost ground of late August, rising another 1.9% to 6,261.2pts this morning. The UK supermarkets are amongst the chief beneficiaries this morning, with Morrisons (MRW) up 2.6% to 174.4p and Sainsbury’s (SBRY) 2.1% to 243.6p.

Yesterday in the City

Conviviality Retail (CVR) returned to the markets with a bang yesterday. The Bargain Booze owner jumped 21% to 187.5p after announcing it had agreed to buy drinks wholesaler Matthew Clark for £200m. Conviviality had suspended its shares back in July when news of its pursuit of Matthew Clark emerged as the deal represents a reverse takeover.

It was another more positive day for the market generally, with the FTSE 100 closing up 1.2% to 6,146.1pts.

The supermarkets were boosted by the news from the BRC-KMPG retail sales monitor for August that showed three-month food sales were back on the up for the first time in a year.

Tesco (TSCO) rose 1.6% to 189p, Sainsbury’s was up 1.3% to 238.5p and Morrisons climbed 1.3% to 170p. Ocado (OCDO) also shot up 5.2% to 338.4p, boosted by a reaffirmation of a 385p price target from broker Jefferies yesterday.

Hilton Food Group (HFG) was up 2.9% to 432.3p after reporting solid first half profits despite currency impacts and being upgraded to ‘buy’ by Numis. McBride (MCB) was 0.8% up to 120.5p after reporting a 5.4% drop in full-year revenues. 

Elsewhere, Dairy Crest (DCG) was up 3.5% to 598p, while PZ Cussons (PZC) dropped 1% to 294.2p.

Topics