Guinness-maker Diageo poaches Coca-Cola bottler finance chief as Crew looks to revive sales

Diageo, which owns the Guinness, brand has a new CFO.

Diageo has poached a new chief financial officer from the world’s largest Coca-Cola bottler as chief executive Debra Crew pushes ahead with plans to revive the drinks giant’s flagging sales.

In a statement today, the FTSE 100 Guinness-maker said Nik Jhangiani, currently finance boss at Coca-Cola Europacific Partners, will join the company as chief financial officer and join Diageo’s Board and executive committee in Autumn 2024.

Current CFO Lavanya Chandrashekar is set to step down at the same time after three years heading Diageo’s finance department and six years with the company.

The move marks a shake-up for Diageo’s new chief Crew, who took over the reins in June last year. Crew and Jhangiani will be tasked with reviving sales at the firm after a slide in some of its key regions over the past two years.

Diageo has been under the cosh from investors after a period of sliding sales and a profit warning in November that sent shares tumbling. The firm is trading down around 25 per cent over the past 12 months.

Diageo said it had been hammered by a whiskey slowdown in Latin America and the Caribbean.

Crew said in a statement today that Jhangiani had a “proven global track record of generating growth across multiple consumer businesses and industries”.

“Nik’s experience and international mindset will make him a strong addition to our leadership team,” she said.

“I am grateful to Lavanya for her leadership over the last six years and her contribution as Diageo successfully expanded our business through a global pandemic and delivered major productivity savings.”  I want to thank Lavanya for being a trusted colleague and partner to me, both when we worked together in

Jhangiani has nearly 30 years of experience and is currently chief financial officer at Coca-Cola Europacific Partners (CCEP), the world’s largest Coca-Cola bottler with revenues of over €18bn (£15.4bn) in 2023, a role he has held since 2016.

CCEP is listed on the London Stock Exchange, NASDAQ, Euronext Amsterdam, and the Spanish Stock Exchanges. His appointment comes after the firm named former British senior civil servant John Manzoni as its next chair in March, who will Javier Ferran in February 2025.