Coles Group Ltd (ASX: COL) shares are currently down after the supermarket business announced that there are changes among the leadership team.
The board of directors is an important element of the governance of a business, with important roles like choosing who the CEO will be, ensuring the business is doing the right thing for shareholders as well as deciding on the level of dividends and so on.
Some board members can bring a level of expertise to a company, such as e-commerce or cybersecurity. Changes to the board make-up can be unnerving, or an improvement, depending on who's going and who's coming in.
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Coles board changes
The supermarket business announced that Paul O'Malley has advised the company he will not be standing for re-election at the upcoming annual general meeting (AGM), and will retire from the board on 31 October 2023.
Coles' chair James Graham said that O'Malley had played an active role in supporting the reshaping of the business over the three years at the business.
It was also announced that Terry Bowen would be leaving the board to take up a senior executive role at ROKT, which is a global e-commerce technology business, and will be moving to the USA. Due to that, Mr Bowen expects to retire as a director of Coles around late February 2024.
Graham said:
Terry has brought a great deal of knowledge and expertise to Coles since his appointment in 2022 and will continue to do so over the coming months.
This may be a blow for Coles because, according to the Australian Financial Review reporting, he was seen as a potential internal successor as chair to James Graham.
Anything else?
The supermarket business also released its full 2023 financial year report. The preliminary report was released in August.
All of the financial numbers are the same, but it gives the company a chance to give commentary about different things, including progress on initiatives.
In the report, new Coles managing director and CEO Leah Weckert gave some commentary about the outlook and focus of the business.
Weckert said that its immediate focus is to "restore availability, reduce loss and provide a high-quality fresh food offering." Coles also wants to continue to "deliver value" for customers and improve the customer experience.
With a focus on what matters most to customers, it's prioritising its investing accordingly. The company's goal is to become the most trusted retailer in Australia and grow long-term shareholder value.
Coles share price snapshot
Since the start of 2023, Coles shares are down over 4% as we can see on the chart below, which compares to a rise of more than 3% for the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO).
