By Anna Peverieri
(Reuters) -Alstom’s CEO Henri Poupart-Lafarge will not seek a fourth term as head of the French train maker and plans to step down at the end of his current mandate in 2027, the company said on Friday.
Alstom, which has struggled to recover from its costly 2021 acquisition of Canadian firm Bombardier’s rail business, declined to comment on the reasons behind the decision.
Its board of directors has launched a process to find a new CEO, the company said in a statement. Poupart-Lafarge, who has led Alstom since 2016, will remain in his role until the 2027 annual general meeting and the appointment of a successor, it added.
Alstom has named both a new CFO and chairman in the past two years as it has sought to rebound following the Bombardier acquisition, a deal that brought in problematic contracts and contributed to the group’s cash strain.
“It is arguably time with the new guard of CFO Bernard Delpit and Chairman Philippe Petitcolin,” Redburn Atlantic analyst James Moore told Reuters, adding that he expected Poupart-Lafarge to be replaced by someone from outside the company.
Alongside its full-year results publication on Wednesday, the group said it had fully executed its deleveraging plan and completed the integration of Bombardier’s rail business.
Alstom’s shares were up nearly 4% in morning trading.
(Reporting by Anna Peverieri in Gdansk; Editing by Milla Nissi-Prussak and Joe Bavier)
