(Reuters) – Campari said on Wednesday that its chief executive, Matteo Fantacchiotti, had resigned for “personal reasons”, a departure deemed unexpected by analysts, given that the executive had only been at the helm of the Italian spirits group for five months.

On the Milan Stock Exchange, at around 08:20 GMT, Campari shares fell by 6.39% to 7.05 euros after hitting a low since July 2020. The stock has lost 30% of its value since the start of the year.

“This resignation was not expected, in our view, especially since Matteo Fantacchiotti had taken office in April 2024,” JPMorgan wrote in a note.

The broker expects Campari shares to remain under pressure, also highlighting doubts about the group’s current performance, in a context of deteriorating growth in the United States.

Matteo Fantacchiotti, who succeeded Bob Kunze-Concewitz, Campari’s CEO since 2007, in April 2024, noted at a conference on Friday that the sector was showing persistent weakness in the current quarter.

Since Matteo Fantacchiotti’s appointment, Campari shares have lost almost 16% of their value, compared with a 2.8% gain for the Stoxx 600 food and beverage index. Over the same period, Campari’s competitors such as Pernod Ricard and Diageo have fallen by 11% and 9% respectively.

The Italian spirits group said Bob Kunze-Concewitz (still a member of the group’s board) will chair a transition committee comprising CFO and COO Paolo Marchesini and group legal and business development director Fabio Di Fede, who have been appointed interim co-CEOs.

Campari, whose main shareholder is the holding company of the Italian Garavoglia family, said the financial terms of Matteo Fantacchiotti’s departure were still being discussed.

(Reporting by Alberto Chiumento; with contributions from Amanda Cooper in London; by Claude Chendjou, edited by Blandine Hénault)

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