By Marleen Kaesebier and Paolo Laudani
(Reuters) -Swiss computer accessories maker Logitech said on Monday that finance chief Charles Boynton will leave the company in May, after just over a year in the job.
The news sent Logitech shares down more than 7% in morning trade.
The computer mice, keyboard and webcam maker said Boynton was leaving for a new career opportunity and that his successor would be announced at a later date.
The news took the market by surprise and marks another management change at the Swiss-American company, which CEO Hanneke Faber, a former Unilever executive, only joined six months ago.
Logitech’s shares were down 7.45% by 1108 GMT.
Boynton became chief financial officer in February 2023 as the company struggled with declining sales but the company recently forecast a return to revenue growth.
“The move is a surprise, especially following other recent top management and key man changes,” Kepleur Cheuvreux analyst Torsten Sauter said.
“He (Boynton) has the industry experience that the new CEO Hanneke Faber is still lacking.”
The Lausanne-based company has a capital markets day planned in the spring or summer of 2024. “Without a CFO, it will be a greater challenge to hold this event and provide credible financial targets, especially for the long term,” Sauter said.
“We regard Chuck as instrumental in stabilising Logitech during a very difficult period, following a streak of profit warnings and with an interim CEO running the company,” he added.
Logitech said in January that it is targeting a return to revenue growth after reporting declining sales in previous quarters following a boom in demand for its work and play equipment during the pandemic.
(Reporting by Paolo Laudani and Marleen Kaesebier, Editing by Rachel More, Andrey Sychev and Susan Fenton)
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