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(Adds details, shares)
LONDON, Feb 11 (Reuters) - Marks & Spencer on
Tuesday appointed Eoin Tonge, currently the chief financial
officer of Irish food group Greencore, as its new
finance chief, filling a void left by the departure of Humphrey
Singer at the end of last year.
Tonge joins at a difficult time for M&S, whose shares have
fallen 35% over the last year.
After more than a decade of failed re-inventions, the
136-year old clothing and food retailer set out on its latest
transformation plan shortly after retail veteran Archie Norman
became chairman in 2017 to work alongside Chief Executive Steve
Rowe, who has been with the firm for 30 years and became the
boss in 2016.
The plan suffered a setback last month when M&S reported a
disappointing Christmas trading update, hammering its share
price.
The British retailer said Tonge would start in June,
describing him as a "world-class" finance director. M&S said
David Surdeau, currently interim CFO, would remain with the
business to support Tonge as he moves into his new job.
Tonge has been Greencore's CFO since 2016 and prior to that
was managing director of its grocery business. Before joining
Greencore he worked for investment bank Goldman Sachs.
He will receive an annual salary of 600,000 pounds
($775,800) and will be eligible to participate in M&S's annual
bonus scheme and performance share plan.
Last week the group said non-executive director Katie
Bickerstaffe was shifting to an executive role as chief strategy
and transformation director from April 27.
But it is still to name a start date for Richard Price, its
new clothing boss who was recruited from Tesco in
November.
Shares in M&S were down 1.3% at 1132 GMT, while shares in
Greencore were down 0.3%.
($1 = 0.7734 pounds)
(Reporting by James Davey and Paul Sandle; editing by Kate
Holton and Jane Merriman)
