Godrej Consumer appoints Aasif Malbari as new CEO, replacing Sudhir Sitapati
MUMBAI: In a surprise move, Godrej Consumer Products (GCPL) has appointed insider Aasif Malbari as the new MD & CEO with immediate effect, replacing Sudhir Sitapati who was handed a fresh five-year term ending Oct 2031, earlier this year. Malbari held the office of the global CFO at GCPL since 2023 and also served as president, Godrej Africa and GCPL International until recently. Sitapati stepped down as the MD & CEO, GCPL said in a statement on Tuesday.Analysts said that the elevation of the CFO to the position of CEO may have been driven by the push to shore up margins and shareholder returns at a time when a prolonged West Asia conflict has inflated input costs for companies, squeezing margins. “In the last 5 years, we see that there has been a near 6.6% CAGR on revenue but margins and shareholder returns have been under pressure. This could be the key trigger to bring in a financial leader at the helm rather than a sales & brand focused leader. There are input cost pressures and they are looking at a financial leader to navigate them through this volatile period into better margins and returns for shareholders. With this context, it (the appointment) definitely looks like a replacement,” said independent consumer consultant Akshay D’souza.Malbari has spent three decades in the FMCG and auto industries, across GCPL, Tata Motors, and Hindustan Unilever. Under Malbari, the EBITDA margins of GCPL’s Africa business grew from about 9% in FY24 to nearly 15% in FY26. “As Global CFO, Aasif brings deep command of GCPL’s strategic and operating rhythm. He has also led an outstanding transformation of our Africa business and I believe it’s exactly the kind of ambitious, disciplined execution rigour GCPL needs across all our businesses for our next chapter…..the Board and I have complete confidence in him to accelerate GCPL’s growth alongside our very strong team, said Nisaba Godrej, executive chairperson at GCPL.The share price of GCPL ended 1.7% lower on the BSE on Tuesday.
Source: timesofindia.indiatimes.com