Reckitt Benckiser Group announces retirement of executive

British consumer goods company Reckitt Benckiser Group announced Monday the resignation of Freddy Caspers as Executive Vice President (EVP) for the Latin America and Asia Pacific area.

The FTSE 100 group, the world's largest producer of household cleaning products, said Caspers would step down on June 30th.

Caspers retires after a 16-year career with Reckitt, also a major supplier of healthcare and personal products.

He served as an EVP for Eastern Europe, Rest of the World and Developing Markets before moving to the Latin America and Asia Pacific division.

Roberto Funari will join as his successor after leaving Imperial Tobacco as Marketing Director. He is a former employee of Reckitt, having spent 12 years at the company before jumping on board Imperial for two years.

At Reckitt he held senior marketing and general management roles in Brazil, Netherlands, South Africa and Central Europe. His last role was as global category officer for fabric and home care. He will rejoin the business on March 1st.

Rakesh Kapoor, Reckitt Chief Executive, said: "I would like to thank Freddy for his immense contribution to the growth and success of the company. As a clear example of the scale of his contribution since the merger, our developing markets business has grown at double digits, substantially ahead of market growth.

"At the same time, operating margins are now close to 20%. Importantly, he has built a strong organisation across his regions and has helped to develop the next generation of management talent.

"He advised me of his desire to retire some time ago, ensuring we were able to carefully plan his succession to minimise any disruption. All of us in the company wish Freddy a long, healthy and happy retirement."

RD