Diageo appoints Nik Jhangiani as CFO

Lavanya Chandrashekar will step down as Chief Financial Officer (CFO) at Diageo in the fall after three years in the role.

She joined Diageo in 2018 and is now returning to the US. Diageo said she has been “instrumental in accelerating Diageo’s productivity agenda.”

Chandrashekar, who took up the role of CFO in July 2021, said: “I am proud to have overseen a strong period of growth for Diageo and embedded a culture of productivity and efficiency that will position the company for success in the long-term. .

“I am very grateful to my exceptionally talented teams across finance, data and technology and shared service operations, and I wish Debra (Crew, CEO) and all my Diageo colleagues the best for the future.”

Incoming CFO Nik Jhangiani currently holds the same role at Coca-Cola Europacific Partners. He has more than 30 years of experience in finance and has worked in the UK, Europe, India, Africa and the US.

Previously, he was CFO and senior vice president at Coca-Cola Enterprises.

Jhangiani said: “I am delighted to be joining Diageo. It is an organization I have long admired and one of the most respected and trusted consumer companies in the world. I look forward to working with my new colleagues to create value for Diageo shareholders and support the company’s strong track record of building and sustaining exceptional brands.”

Diageo’s latest financial report showed sales fell 0.6%, which the company blamed on a “worse than expected” consumer environment and high inventory levels.

CEO Debra Crew said: “I am delighted that Nik is joining us. He is a highly experienced CFO with a proven global track record of generating growth across multiple consumer businesses and sectors.

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

“I am grateful to Lavanya for her leadership over the past six years and her contributions as Diageo successfully expanded our business during a global pandemic and delivered major productivity savings.

“I would like to thank Lavanya for being a trusted colleague and partner to me, both when we worked together in North America and more recently when I took on the role of CEO. On behalf of all Diageo colleagues, I wish her the best of luck in her future return to the US.

“With a strong focus on execution, we will continue to invest in our leading brands to create value for shareholders and maintain our position as the market leader in total alcoholic beverages, which we strongly believe is an attractive sector with a long road ahead to success. grow.”

Diageo welcomed more than a million people to its visitor experiences in Scotland for the first time last year.