BRUSSELS (Reuters) – Two senior executives at global commodity trader Trafigura will retire this year, the company said on Friday, clearing the way for a new generation of management in the latest reshuffle at the firm.
In September last year, the Geneva-based firm slimmed down its management by consolidating division leadership. Ben Luckock became the sole head of oil, Gonzalo De Olazaval the sole head of metals and minerals while Richard Holtum added renewables and power to his portfolio.
Trafigura said its CFO Christophe Salmon would retire at the end of June after 12 years at the firm and executive director Jose Maria Larocca at the end of September. Stephan Jansma, currently CFO, Asia Pacific, will assume the role of group CFO from July 1, the company said.
Larocca, a close ally to the late Trafigura founder Claude Dauphin, joined in 1994 and led the oil desk from 2007 until he stepped back from daily activities to his executive director role in 2018.
The executives are leaving after several years of record profit at the company. Trafigura made $7.4 billion in 2023 beating its previous record profit of $4 billion in 2022, which has yielded large bonuses for its share-holding employees.
The company more than tripled its dividend payout last year to about $5.9 billion, up from $1.7 billion in 2022.
Sources familiar with the matter said the focus has shifted who will become CEO Jeremy Weir’s heir apparent with several names in the mix.
Trading firms including Trafigura rivals Vitol, Gunvor and Mercuria have thrived in the extreme market moves that have defined the last few years starting with the COVID-19 pandemic, Europe’s energy crisis of 2021-2022 and sweeping Western sanctions on Russia for its invasion of Ukraine.
(Reporting by Brijesh Patel in Bengaluru and Julia Payne in Brussels; Editing by Mark Potter and David Evans)
