Thursday, 04 February 2021 10:25

Shareholder revolt

Written by Milking It

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ONE OF the world’s largest dairy companies is facing a minor shareholder revolt.

French dairy giant Danone shareholder Bluebell Capital Partners criticised the company’s “disappointing” stock price and called for the board to start searching for a new CEO to replace its current chairman and chief executive, Emmanuel Faber.

It claims since Faber took over in 2014, Danone has delivered total shareholder returns of 21% compared with 56% for the Stoxx Europe 600 Food & Beverage, 97% for Nestlé and 101% for Unilever.

Sounds familiar? Fonterra was in a similar position three years ago, with depressed unit prices and poor returns from investments.

It took a change in Fonterra’s leadership to steady the ship. Could Danone be heading the same way?

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