What happened?
In today''s meeting, the supervisory board decided to appoint Klaus Neumann (54), currently Head of Accounting at RHM, as group CFO, thus succeeding Dagmar Steinert (59), who is leaving the company effective 31 Dec. 2024, one year ahead of original contract expiry. Additionally, the board extended the contract with CEO Armin Papperger (61) by another five years until YE29. Earlier this year, on 15 May, RHM announced the appointment of Dr. Ursula Biernert (55) as new CHRO and Labour Director with effect from 1 October 2024. Last not least, the board has expanded the executive committee by the newly created position of a Chief Operation Officer (COO), a role that will be taken over by Rene Gansauge (51), previously Head of the Weapon and Ammunition division, starting as of 1 January 2025.
BNPP Exane View:
In the related press release, RHM states that the exco changes are in response to ''the increased demands that the enormous growth of Rheinmetall brought in the wake of the much-discussed turning point in history (''Zeitenwende'') and against the backdrop of the rapid internationalisation and expansion of Rheinmetall''s business activities'' as per the guided revenue step up to c. EUR 10bn in FY24 and the earlier contemplated order backlog increase to c. EUR60bn that is expected to allow group revenues of c. EUR 20bn ''in just a few years''; note that CEO Papperger pointed to a required revenue of EUR 20-30bn in 02/24 to successfully compete globally, which was raised to EUR 40bn in 08/24.
In order to ''strike a new balance between continuity and innovation'' and to address the challenges coming along with the implementation of its internationalization strategy that in turn requires the successful integration of 1) new production sites around the world and 2) of major global acquisitions (cf. Loc deal in the U.S. or Expal in Spain), the board has decided to not only expand the exco by creating the role of a COO, but apparently also to change...
