Aranols taking over from Hofbauer as Nestle Malaysia CEO
KUALA LUMPUR: Nestle (Malaysia) Bhd chief executive officer (CEO) Alois Hofbauer is stepping down on November 30 after 28 years with the global Swiss food and beverage giant.
It is learnt that Hofbauer will head for Almarai, a leading Arabian dairy manufacturing company. It is the Middle East’s largest food manufacturer and distributor with 40,000 employees, US$12 billion (RM49.8 billion) market capitalisation and US$4 billion turnover.
Nestle Malaysia said in a statement Juan Aranols would be the new CEO effective December 1.
“I am proud that my team and I have established Nestle Malaysia as one of the top performing companies on Bursa Malaysia.
“We reignited growth and achieved solid results year after year. I am confident that this success will continue, and I wish Aranols all the best in his new role,” said Hofbauer in the statement.
Hofbauer plays a key role in Nestle Malaysia’ growth over the years.
Its share price jumped from RM59.90 in February 2013 to RM146.30 as of Wednesday.
Its market capitalisation grew by RM20.3 billion, from RM14 billion in February 2013 to RM34.3 billion on Wednesday.
From 2012 to last year, its turnover and net profit went up by 15.4 per cent and 27.9 per cent, respectively, with earnings per share growth of 27.9 per cent.
Aranols, meanwhile, is currently Nestle Group’s Zone Asia, Oceania and Sub-Saharan Africa chief financial officer.
He joined Nestle Spain in 1990 as an auditor. In his 28 years with the company, he has held roles of increasing responsibility across different markets in Europe and Latin America.
In the last six years, he has worked for the Nestle global headquarters.
“Nestle Malaysia is a company with a long history and great future prospects. I am both humbled and excited to be given the opportunity to take this organisation forward, building on the strong foundations laid by my predecessor and his team,” said Aranols.