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Johannesburg - Tiger Brands [JSE:TBS] said CEO Peter Matlare will leave South Africa’s largest food producer at the end of the year. The shares rose to a four-month high.
A search for a successor has begun, the Johannesburg-based company said in a statement on Friday, without giving further detail.
The stock gained as much as 5.7% to R312.99, the highest since May 20, and traded 3.9% higher at 10:28 loal time. That pared the year’s decline to 16%, valuing the company at R59bn.
“Investors were very concerned over the decisions that have been made, especially in Nigeria, but also with the loss of market share in South Africa in certain key categories,” Sumil Seeraj, a Johannesburg-based analyst at Standard Bank, said by phone.
“They were losing significant market share in bakeries. That opened up a space for competitors to move in and establish themselves.”
Matlare, who was CEO for more than seven years, oversaw a R954m writedown related to the company’s Dangote Flour Mills unit that was bought for about R2bn in 2012.
The food producer said in May that it could raise funds for the Nigerian company through a rights issue.
According to Tiger Brands, Matlare was appointed to the group in April 2008 and is a non-executive director of Oceana Group. He is also an independent non-executive director of Barclays Africa Group.
