No recommendation
No news or research item is a personal recommendation to deal. Hargreaves Lansdown may not share ShareCast's (powered by Digital Look) views.
(Sharecast News) - Ocado said on Monday that its chief executive and the board "continually engage in long-term succession planning and regularly engage with potential candidates".
The very brief statement was made in response to a report over the weekend suggesting the board is sounding out candidates to replace CEO Tim Steiner following a weak share price performance.
According to Sky News, Ocado is preparing to appoint a successor to Steiner, one of the founders of the business more than 25 years ago and architect of its London float in 2010. Sky said on Sunday that Ocado's board is lining up a new chief executive, weeks after it unveiled a new online retail partnership with the supermarket giant Asda.
A technology industry source told Sky that Niklas Heuveldop, the chief executive of Vonage, a subsidiary of Sweden's Ericsson, had been sounded out about taking over from Steiner.
Sky said it was unclear how imminent any announcement about CEO succession might be or whether Heuveldop remained in the frame to land the role. The search for a new boss of the e-commerce technology group was said to be being led by Adam Warby, who has chaired Ocado for the last 18 months.
Warby took over from Rick Haythornthwaite, who now chairs NatWest Group.
At 1010 BST, the shares were down 5.3% at 171.20p.
Russ Mould, investment director at AJ Bell, said: "Is Ocado about to deliver a new CEO? The grocery retailer has responded to speculation that Tim Steiner could be replaced by saying it regularly engages with potential candidates as part of long-term succession planning.
"Steiner is co-founder and has had his work cut out over the past few years after a series of setbacks involving clients scaling back work.
"The company has also disappointed with a slow pace of new client wins and investors have suffered share price weakness. Interestingly, the shares fell further on the latest comments around Steiner, which suggests that investors want to keep him.
"The news will stir the debate about whether it is better to have a safe pair of hands to navigate through tough times or to bring in someone new with fresh thinking."
See latest RNS on Investegate
The value of investments can go down in value as well as up, so you could get back less than you invest. It is therefore important that you understand the risks and commitments. This website is not personal advice based on your circumstances. So you can make informed decisions for yourself we aim to provide you with the best information, best service and best prices. If you are unsure about the suitability of an investment please contact us for advice.