Shareholders urge Diageo to keep finance director Nik Jhangiani

Diageo’s shareholders are urging the embattled drinks company to prevent the finance director from leaving after he was passed over for the chief executive job in favour of Sir Dave Lewis.

Investors want Nik Jhangiani to stay on at the drinks business, which makes beverages from Guinness to Johnnie Walker, to create what one long-standing investor called a “box office blockbuster” duo to revive the former FTSE 100 star.

Lewis, credited with turning around Tesco, was named chief executive last week after a four-month search during which Jhangiani stepped up to the role.

Sir Dave Lewis restored the fortunes of Tesco in the aftermath of an accounting scandal

SONJA HORSMAN FOR THE TIMES

Jhangiani had been regarded as the likely replacement for Debra Crew, who left in July after two turbulent years in the role. The shares have slumped 30 per cent this year after Diageo was hit by stocking issues in Latin America and a cutback in drinking.

Lewis’s appointment was announced on Monday just days after a profit warning. There had been reports of investor disquiet about the time it was taking to find a replacement for Crew.

Schroders, which owns a 0.5 per cent stake in Diageo, said it wanted Jhangiani to stay on to work alongside Lewis: “We hope they will be a dream team.”

Ben Needham, portfolio manager at Ninety One, said it would be his preference for the financial director to stay, saying the pair would “make quite a strong team”. Diageo is the largest position in his portfolio.

Lewis, 60, will step down as chairman of Haleon, the FTSE 100 healthcare business, at the end of the year, and start at Diageo in January. While Lewis has not worked in the spirits business, his record in restoring the fortunes of Tesco drove up the share price of Diageo by 5 per cent on the day of his appointment.

Lewis left Tesco after six years in 2020. He became chief executive in the aftermath of an accounting scandal. He previously earned his nickname “Drastic Dave” during a 30-year career at Unilever because of his reputation for cutting costs.

Jhangiani joined last year from FTSE 100 bottling business Coca-Cola Europacific Partners, where he was also finance director, and has proved popular with Diageo shareholders. The company employs almost 30,000 people around the world and is based in London.

The long-standing investor said: “The combination of the two could be special. The opportunity to work alongside Dave as one of the duo who turn this around could be attractive.”

Diageo’s chairman Sir John Manzoni praised Jhangiani when Lewis was appointed, thanking him for his “excellent leadership”. The company declined to comment further.