“A sharp drop in Rightmove’s shares upon news that Peter Brooks-Johnson is to step down in 2023 is perhaps the ultimate compliment to the online property portal’s boss and you can see why investors will be sorry to see him go,” says AJ Bell investment director, Russ Mould. “During Mr Brooks-Johnson’s tenure, which started in May 2017, the firm’s shares made it into the FTSE 100 for the very first time and provided investors with premium returns, with a 45% capital gain, compared to a mere 3% advance in the index over the same time span. Rightmove has also returned almost £750 million in cash to shareholders via dividends and share buybacks, to further boost returns.
Source: Company accounts
“The outgoing boss also helped Rightmove to navigate the pandemic and lockdowns and although Rightmove passed on its final dividend for 2019 the firm has quickly rebuilt its shareholder distribution to new highs.
Source: Company accounts
“Investors could be forgiven for wondering why Mr Brooks-Johnson is planning to leave next February, after publication of the 2022 full-year results, especially as there does not seem to be a planned replacement to hand. His term of office will have reached almost six years by then, almost exactly in line with the current average across the FTSE 100 for CEOs of 5.7 years. He currently ranks as the 43rd-longest service boss in the UK’s headline index (see appendix).
“Mr Brooks-Johnson is the eleventh FTSE 100 boss to announce they are stepping down so far in 2022, although three of those changes are due to come into effect in 2023, including the one at Rightmove. This compares to a long-run average of between 12 and 13 changes a year.
|
Company |
In |
Out |
Date |
|
Johnson Matthey |
Liam Condon |
Robert MacLeod |
01-Mar-22 |
|
Prudential |
Mark FitzPatrick (interim) |
Mike Wells |
31-Mar-22 |
|
Burberry |
Jonathan Akeroyd |
Marco Gobbetti |
01-Apr-22 |
|
Smith & Nephew |
Deepak Nath |
Roland Diggelmann |
01-Apr-22 |
|
Anglo American |
Duncan Wanblad |
Mark Cutifani |
19-Apr-22 |
|
Taylor Wimpey |
Jennie Daly |
Pete Redfern |
26-Apr-22 |
|
Rolls-Royce |
TBC |
Warren East |
End-2022 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Announced but yet to be effective |
|||
|
M&G |
TBC |
John Foley |
TBC |
|
Rightmove |
TBC |
Peter Brooks-Johnson |
Feb-23 |
|
B&M European Value Retail |
TBC |
Simon Arora |
Mar-23 |
|
United Utilities |
Louise Beardmore |
Steve Mogford |
End-2023 |
Source: Company accounts
“CEOs usually decide to step down for one of three reasons.
- Shareholder impatience or overt pressure from an activist investor after a period of poor operational, financial or share price performance.
- A desire to hand over the reins, after a long spell at the helm, and either retire or seek a fresh challenge (as the boss may have been at the company for a long time before ascending to the top job).
- A plan to get out while the going it still good, to maintain a good reputation and perhaps capitalise upon it by bagging juicy non-executive posts or even the role of company chair.
“Rightmove’s statement suggests that Mr Brooks-Johnson feels in need of a change of scene, after sixteen years at the company and what will be ultimately nearly six in charge, although some investors could be forgiven for asking themselves whether the boss is getting out at an opportune time.
“Rightmove’s shares are down by a third from December’s all-time high, as the tide seemingly turns against highly-rated growth stocks and markets fret about the impact of rising inflation and rising interest rates upon not just equity valuations but consumer confidence and possibly, by extension, the housing market.
“The stamp duty tax break is behind us, and it now remains to be seen whether the post-pandemic pent-up demand for housing can be maintained in the face of higher borrowing costs and a real-terms squeeze on earnings. The Government’s 95% mortgage guarantee scheme is also due to close by December 2022, although multiple extensions (and varieties) of Help to Buy suggest that this supposedly temporary programme could yet enjoy a longer life than planned.”
APPENDIX: FTSE 100 CEO Longevity
|
|
Company |
CEO |
Started |
Years |
|
1 |
Next |
Simon Wolfson |
May-2001 |
21.0 |
|
2 |
Dechra Pharmaceuticals |
Ian Page |
Nov-2001 |
20.5 |
|
3 |
Ocado |
Tim Steiner |
Jan-2002 |
20.4 |
|
4 |
JD Sports Fashion |
Peter Cowgill |
Mar-2004 |
18.2 |
|
5 |
B & M European Value Retail |
Simon Arora |
Jan-2005 |
17.4 |
|
6 |
Halma |
Andrew Williams |
Feb-2005 |
17.2 |
|
7 |
Associated British Foods |
George Weston |
Apr-2005 |
17.1 |
|
8 |
Berkeley |
Rob Perrins |
Sep-2009 |
12.7 |
|
9 |
RELX |
Erik Engstrom |
Nov-2009 |
12.5 |
|
10 |
DS Smith |
Miles Roberts |
May-2010 |
12.0 |
|
11 |
United Utilities |
Steve Mogford |
Mar-2011 |
11.2 |
|
12 |
SEGRO |
David Sleath |
Apr-2011 |
11.0 |
|
13 |
Experian |
Brian Cassin |
Apr-2012 |
10.0 |
|
14 |
Melrose Industries |
Simon Peckham |
May-2012 |
10.0 |
|
15 |
3i |
Simon Borrows |
May-2012 |
10.0 |
|
16 |
Legal and General |
Nigel Wilson |
Jun-2012 |
9.9 |
|
17 |
Fresnillo |
Octavio Alvidrez |
Aug-2012 |
9.7 |
|
18 |
AstraZeneca |
Pascal Soriot |
Oct-2012 |
9.6 |
|
19 |
Diageo |
Ivan Menezes |
Jul-2013 |
8.9 |
|
20 |
SSE |
Alistair Phillips-Davies |
Jul-2013 |
8.9 |
|
21 |
Rentokil Initial |
Andy Ransom |
Oct-2013 |
8.6 |
|
22 |
CRH |
Albert Manifold |
Jan-2014 |
8.4 |
|
23 |
Informa |
Stephen Carter |
Jan-2014 |
8.4 |
|
24 |
Royal Dutch Shell |
Ben van Beurden |
Jan-2014 |
8.4 |
|
25 |
Spirax-Sarco Engineering |
Nick Anderson |
Jan-2014 |
8.3 |
|
26 |
Severn Trent |
Liv Garfield |
Apr-2014 |
8.1 |
|
27 |
Pershing Square |
Anne Farlow (chair) |
Oct-2014 |
7.6 |
|
28 |
Croda |
Steve Foots |
Oct-2014 |
7.6 |
|
29 |
Electrocomponents |
Lindsley Ruth |
Apr-2015 |
7.1 |
|
30 |
Intertek |
Andre Lacroix |
May-2015 |
7.0 |
|
31 |
Standard Chartered |
Bill Winters |
Jun-2015 |
6.9 |
|
32 |
Barratt Developments |
David Thomas |
Jul-2015 |
6.9 |
|
33 |
Rolls Royce |
Warren East |
Jul-2015 |
6.8 |
|
34 |
Smurfit Kappa |
Tony Smurfit |
Sep-2015 |
6.7 |
|
35 |
Whitbread |
Alison Brittain |
Jan-2016 |
6.3 |
|
36 |
National Grid |
John Pettigrew |
Apr-2016 |
6.1 |
|
37 |
Schroders |
Peter Harrison |
Apr-2016 |
6.1 |
|
38 |
Antofagasta |
Ivan Arriagada |
Apr-2016 |
6.1 |
|
39 |
Bunzl |
Frank van Zanten |
Apr-2016 |
6.1 |
|
40 |
Endeavour Mining |
Sebastien de Montessus |
Jun-2016 |
5.9 |
|
41 |
GlaxoSmithKline |
Emma Walmsley |
Apr-2017 |
5.1 |
|
42 |
Hargreaves Lansdown |
Chris Hill |
Apr-2017 |
5.1 |
|
43 |
Rightmove |
Peter Brooks-Johnson |
May-2017 |
5.0 |
|
44 |
InterContinental Hotels |
Keith Barr |
Jul-2017 |
4.9 |
|
45 |
BAE Systems |
Charles Woodburn |
Jul-2017 |
4.9 |
|
46 |
DCC |
Donal Murphy |
Jul-2017 |
4.8 |
|
47 |
International Capital Group |
Benoit Durteste |
25-Jul-17 |
4.8 |
|
48 |
M & G |
John Foley |
Aug-2017 |
4.7 |
|
49 |
Coca-Cola HBC |
Zoran Bogdanovic |
Dec-2017 |
4.4 |
|
50 |
Meggitt |
Tony Wood |
Jan-2018 |
4.4 |
|
51 |
ITV |
Carolyn McCall |
Jan-2018 |
4.4 |
|
52 |
St. James's Place |
Andrew Croft |
Jan-2018 |
4.4 |
|
53 |
Compass |
Dominic Blakemore |
Jan-2018 |
4.4 |
|
54 |
Flutter Entertainment |
Peter Jackson |
Jan-2018 |
4.3 |
|
55 |
Hikma Pharmaceutial |
Sigurdur Olafsson |
Feb-2018 |
4.2 |
|
56 |
Howden Joinery |
Andrew Livingston |
Apr-2018 |
4.1 |
|
57 |
Scottish Mortgage Inv. Trust |
Fiona McBain (chair) |
Jun-2018 |
3.9 |
|
58 |
London Stock Exchange |
David Schwimmer |
Aug-2018 |
3.8 |
|
59 |
Sage |
Steve Hare |
Aug-2018 |
3.7 |
|
60 |
WPP |
Mark Read |
Sep-2018 |
3.7 |
|
61 |
Vodafone |
Nick Read |
Oct-2018 |
3.6 |
|
62 |
Unilever |
Alan Jope |
Jan-2019 |
3.4 |
|
63 |
BT |
Philip Jansen |
Feb-2019 |
3.3 |
|
64 |
British American Tobacco |
Jack Bowles |
Apr-2019 |
3.1 |
|
65 |
Ashtead |
Brendan Horgan |
May-2019 |
3.0 |
|
66 |
Avast |
Ondrej Vlcek |
Jul-2019 |
2.9 |
|
67 |
HBSC |
Noel Quinn |
Aug-2019 |
2.8 |
|
68 |
Reckitt Benckiser |
Laxman Narasimhan |
Sep-2019 |
2.7 |
|
69 |
Kingfisher |
Thierry Garnier |
Sep-2019 |
2.6 |
|
70 |
NatWest Group |
Alison Rose |
Nov-2019 |
2.5 |
|
71 |
Ferguson |
Kevin Murphy |
Nov-2019 |
2.5 |
|
72 |
BP |
Bernard Looney |
Feb-2020 |
2.3 |
|
73 |
Phoenix Group |
Andy Briggs |
Feb-2020 |
2.2 |
|
74 |
Auto Trader |
Nathan Coe |
Mar-2020 |
2.2 |
|
75 |
Mondi |
Andrew King |
Apr-2020 |
2.1 |
|
76 |
Land Securities |
Mark Allan |
Apr-2020 |
2.1 |
|
77 |
Sainsbury |
Simon Roberts |
Jun-2020 |
1.9 |
|
78 |
Imperial Brands |
Stefan Bomhard |
Jul-2020 |
1.9 |
|
79 |
Aviva |
Amanda Blanc |
Jul-2020 |
1.8 |
|
80 |
abrdn |
Stephen Bird |
Sep-2020 |
1.7 |
|
81 |
International Cons. Airlines |
Luis Gallego |
Sep-2020 |
1.7 |
|
82 |
Persimmon |
Dean Finch |
Sep-2020 |
1.6 |
|
83 |
Tesco |
Ken Murphy |
Oct-2020 |
1.6 |
|
84 |
Pearson |
Andy Bird |
Oct-2020 |
1.6 |
|
85 |
British Land |
Simon Carter |
Nov-2020 |
1.5 |
|
86 |
Admiral Group |
Milena Mondini de Focatiis |
Dec-2020 |
1.4 |
|
87 |
Rio Tinto |
Jakob Stausholm |
Jan-2021 |
1.4 |
|
88 |
Royal Mail |
Simon Thompson / Martin Seidenberg |
Jan-2021 |
1.3 |
|
89 |
Entain |
Jette Nygaard-Andersen |
Jan-2021 |
1.3 |
|
90 |
AVEVA |
Peter Herweck |
May-2021 |
1.0 |
|
91 |
Smiths Group |
Paul Keel |
May-2021 |
1.0 |
|
92 |
Glencore |
Gary Nagle |
Jul-2021 |
0.9 |
|
93 |
Lloyds |
Charlie Nunn |
Aug-2021 |
0.7 |
|
94 |
Airtel Africa |
Olesegun Ogunsanya |
Oct-2021 |
0.6 |
|
95 |
Barclays |
C.S. Venkatakrishnan |
Nov-2021 |
0.5 |
|
96 |
Prudential |
Mark FitzPatrick (interim) |
Mar-2022 |
0.1 |
|
97 |
Burberry |
Jonathan Akeroyd |
Apr-2022 |
0.1 |
|
98 |
Smith & Nephew |
Deepak Nath |
Apr-2022 |
0.1 |
|
99 |
Anglo American |
Duncan Wanblad |
Apr-2022 |
0.1 |
|
100 |
Taylor Wimpey |
Jennie Daly |
Apr-2022 |
0.0 |
|
AVERAGE |
|
|
|
5.7 |
Source: Company accounts. Longevity data as of 9 May 2022.
