The outgoing CEO of Ahold described the appointment of his replacement Dick Boer as a “carefully planned succession” as he assuaged analyst concerns over the Dutch retailer’s performance during the transition.

“While the leadership will change, the strategy will not. Dick has been heavily involved in Ahold’s strategy and this has been a carefully planned succession,” John Rishton said on an analyst call today (30 September).

Go deeper with GlobalData

Premium Insights

The gold standard of business intelligence.

Find out more

The company announced today that Rishton would be leaving the company in March to become CEO of Rolls-Royce. Dick Boer, the current chief operating officer of Ahold Europe, is to replace him.

Additionally, the company announced that Carl Schlicker, currently CEO of Ahold USA Retail, has been appointed as COO of Ahold USA. He will take on the role when Larry Benjamin retires early next year.

Rishton signalled that there would be further changes in the coming months, as the new COOs – Sander van der Laan as COO of its Europe operations and Carl Schlicker for its US operations – would focus on their divisions. A now three-person executive board – comprising Boer, CFO Kimberly Ross and chief corporate governance counsel Lodewijk Hijmans van den Bergh – would be responsible for strategy and growth.

See Also:

When asked if the smaller executive board would mean that there would be less focus on mergers and acquisitions, Rishton said: “Clearly with the changes we’ve announced today, questions remain around how we strengthen our focus on growth. We need to do some more work on how we focus on that. We will be reflecting on further changes and they will be announced in the coming months.”

How well do you really know your competitors?

Access the most comprehensive Company Profiles on the market, powered by GlobalData. Save hours of research. Gain competitive edge.

Company Profile – free sample

Thank you!

Your download email will arrive shortly

Not ready to buy yet? Download a free sample

We are confident about the unique quality of our Company Profiles. However, we want you to make the most beneficial decision for your business, so we offer a free sample that you can download by submitting the below form

By GlobalData
Visit our Privacy Policy for more information about our services, how we may use, process and share your personal data, including information of your rights in respect of your personal data and how you can unsubscribe from future marketing communications. Our services are intended for corporate subscribers and you warrant that the email address submitted is your corporate email address.

The appointment of Schlicker as the COO of Ahold USA seems to signal the end of the retailer’s restructuring efforts in the US.

“Larry has been focused on the growth agenda and organisational change in the US. As the organisational transfers, the time is right for Larry to retire,” Rishton said. “As we’ve gotten through that process, it’s right to have a retailer in charge of the business.”

RBS analyst Justin Scarborough praised the appointment of Boer as the new CEO of Ahold, describing the retailer as “lucky” to have such an operator that is able to step up to the plate.

“We think that Dick Boer is a good appointment given that he has been in charge of what we believe is arguably one of the strongest food retailers over the past 5 years – Albert Heijn. Over the past five years sales and EBIT CAGR have been 9% and 17% respectively and operating margins around 7% are just one measure of its success,” he said.

Shares in the retailer had fallen 1.8% to EUR9.86 a share at 11:39 CEST.