By Chris Nicholls and James Wells
MELBOURNE: Departing Sunbeam chief executive, Jonathan Lord, has stated he will not be moving to long-time rival Housewares International, despite his unexpected exit.
When asked whether he would be joining HWI, Lord said, “No. I’m going to take a break from the industry for a while. In the new year I hope to have some new ideas.”
In the meantime, HWI continues without a head, following Paul Hill’s departure in early June.
At the time of Hill’s departure, HWI announced it would hire executive recruitment specialist Spencer Stuart to find a replacement. In the interim, the company placed former chief financial officer, Mervyn Cohen, in the acting chief executive role.
So far, though, it appears no suitable candidate has been forthcoming.
Any incoming chief executive would likely receive a similar package to Hill, who earned a total of $575,000 for this year in the role, consisting of a base and, performance-related bonuses.
Hill also received one million HWI shares, but would likely have been unable to exercise them due to time-related vesting conditions.
The market reacted negatively to news of Lord’s departure at first, with GUD stock down three per cent earlier this morning.
However, the stock has since bounced back to be the almost the same as yesterday’s $6.64 closing price.