BG Group Plc Hires AstraZeneca Plc’s CFO Simon Lowth

Lowth set to leave AstraZeneca plc (LON:AZN) and take role as chief financial officer at BG Group plc (LON:BG).

Sam Robson

I've been a Fool for over a decade, and am proud to currently call myself the Editor in Chief of TMF UK. I follow Foolish investing principles, and buy shares in quality companies throughout both bull and bear markets!

Published 15 July, 2013 9:39 am BST

| More on: AZN

The content of this article was relevant at the time of publishing. Circumstances change continuously and caution should therefore be exercised when relying upon any content contained within this article.

AstraZeneca (LSE: AZN) (NYSE: AZN.US) chief financial officer Simon Lowth has agreed to move to BG Group (LSE: BG) (NASDAQOTH: BRGGY.US) in November 2013.

He will be appointed as an executive director as well as CFO, succeeding Den Jones who has been interim CFO and executive director since February.

Lowth joined AstraZeneca in November 2007, and is responsible for Finance, Investor Relations and the firm’s business in Japan. He commented:

“BG Group is an outstanding company in a sector that I know well and I look forward to working with the team to build on its successes and deliver on the opportunities in this next stage of its evolution.”

AstraZeneca’s chief executive officer, Pascal Soriot, said “Simon has made a significant and lasting contribution to AstraZeneca’s success, helping put the company on a stronger footing for the future”, while BG’s chief executive Chris Finlayson commented “Simon… brings with him a great combination of finance, capital allocation, value-based planning, portfolio management and strategy skills – critical skills as we execute our strategy to deliver long-term value to shareholders and focus on excellence in execution”.

Shares in BG Group climbed over 1% in early trading, while AstraZeneca’s were little changed. Upon today’s announcement, Lowth highlighted BG Group’s “exciting growth strategy”, which has seen its shares rise 345% in 10 years.

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> Sam does not own shares in any company mentioned.