NEWS
Chemours places three on leave during review
The board of Chemours has put CEO Mark Newman , CFO Jonathan Lock and principal accounting officer Camela Wisel on administrative leave pending the completion of an internal review by independent counsel that the board ’ s audit committee is overseeing .
The scope of the review includes the processes for reviewing reports made to the company ’ s ethics hotline , practices for managing working capital , including the related impact on metrics within the incentive plans , certain non-GAAP metrics included in filings made with the Securities & Exchange Commission ( SEC ) and other related disclosures .
As a result , Chemours is evaluating potential material weaknesses in its internal control over financial reporting as of 31 December 2023 , with respect to maintaining effective controls related to the control environment . This includes the effectiveness of the ‘ tone at the top ’ set by some senior management figures , and information and communication components of the COSO internal control framework .
Denise Dignam and Matt Abbott are acting as interim CEO and CFO respectively . Dignam has been with the company since 2015 and has served in multiple senior roles , most recently as president of Titanium Technologies . Abbott joined from PwC in 2019 and has been chief enterprise transformation officer since June 2023 .
Lock , who was previously chief development officer , had only become CFO following the resignation of Sameer Ralhan in June 2023 . Ralhan ’ s was the third departure in quick succession at Chemours , following those of Edwin Sparks , president of Titanium Technologies and Chemical Solutions business on 31 March and Alisha Bellezza , president of Thermal & Specialized Solutions on 31 May of that year .
This all came after the company announced a delay to its Q4 and fullyear 2023 results , which were due to be issued on 2 February . It has filed a Form 12b-25 with the SEC and will announce a revised date at a point as yet unknown .
The Q4 results had already been delayed from 13 to 29 February and the company ’ s share price fell by 45 % in that time frame . Reuters quoted Barclays analyst Michael Leithead as saying : “ What we think many perceived as likely a relatively minor accounting hang-up two weeks ago now appears wider , longer and with more ramifications than the market initially believed .”
Unaudited preliminary estimates suggest that sales fell from $ 6.8 billion to about $ 6.0 billion in 2023 , with a net loss of $ 225-235million , compared to net income of $ 578 million . This includes $ 746 million of pre-tax litigation settlements mainly related to PFAS and $ 153 million of restructuring , asset-related and other charges , offset by a $ 106 million net pre-tax gain associated with the 2023 sale of the Glycolic Acid business .
The fall in sales is primarily attributable to lower volumes in Titanium Technologies and in the Advanced Materials portfolio of the Advanced Performance Materials business . This was partially offset by increased pricing and volumes in Thermal & Specialized Solutions .
MAR / APR 2024 SPECCHEMONLINE . COM
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