McBride shares slump on profit warning, CEO departure

(Reuters) - Cleaning products maker McBride Plc issued a profit warning for the second time this year and said Chief Executive Officer Rik De Vos was leaving the company, sending its shares sharply lower.

The company, which makes laundry and cleaning brands including Surcare, Limelite kitchen and Clean 'n Fresh, said De Vos will leave once his successor is appointed.

His exit comes as the McBride said full-year earnings would be slightly lower than market estimates, due to weaker-than-expected third-quarter sales in Germany, France and Italy.

Shares in the small-cap company tumbled 13.5 percent to 91 pence by 0723 GMT.

Thursday's stock fall is the biggest one-day loss since February, when McBride forecast annual adjusted earnings to be about 10-15 percent lower than last year as it struggles with higher costs.

"In what remains a challenging retail environment across Europe, it appears CEO Rik De Vos has decided that moving forward meaningfully quickly could be a struggle for the company and decided to explore other opportunities," Liberum said.

Liberum said the continuing yellow vest protests in France could also have impacted McBride's results.

(Reporting by Shashwat Awasthi and Muvija M in Bengaluru; Editing by Shounak Dasgupta and Gopakumar Warrier)