The Transurban Group (ASX: TCL) share price is currently down 0.91% amid the toll road business giving an update on its leadership.
Scott Charlton has been the boss of Transurban for more than a decade. He was appointed as the CEO in July 2012. The business has delivered significant operational and earnings growth during his tenure, but he'll soon be leaving.
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Accelerated departure
The toll road giant had already told investors that Michelle Jablko was going to become the CEO and managing director after the 2023 annual general meetings (AGM) had concluded on 19 October 2023.
However, today's news is that Scott Charlton will leave on 30 November 2023.
Charlton told the board he has recently accepted an executive role as the CEO of Sydney Airport, so his departure date has been brought forward to 30 November from the previously announced date of 31 December 2023.
The Transurban board believes incoming CEO Jablko is ready because Charlton has spent the last two months actively transitioning the role. As such, the board is satisfied with the revised departure date.
Is the market actually that upset?
The S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) is currently down by 0.58% and the Transurban share price decline of 0.91% is not significantly higher. So it seems the slightly accelerated departure may not factor much into investors' minds – he was leaving anyway.
What's been going on with the Transurban share price?
While Transurban shares are down more than 13% since 26 April, the company's share price is still up 2% for 2023 to date.
In FY23, the business reported a 20% increase in average daily traffic (ADT), a 26% rise in proportional revenue, and 45% growth in free cash (excluding capital releases).
It's expecting to distribute 62 cents per security in FY24, which would represent growth of 7% compared to FY23. At the current Transurban share price, that represents a projected forward distribution yield of 4.7%.
