Euronav’s annual general meeting kicks off this morning in Antwerp with shareholders keen to hear about the direction the tanker giant intends to take following the ousting of the company’s CEO yesterday.
Hugo De Stoop, Euronav’s chief executive since Paddy Rodgers resigned in 2019, will be replaced on an interim basis by chief financial officer Lieve Logghe, it was announced yesterday.
De Stoop backed the company’s failed merger with John Frederiksen’s Frontline, in the process falling out with the company’s other main shareholder, the Saverys family.
In a note to clients yesterday, analysts at Evercore ISI wrote: “In a way, Mr. De Stoop’s departure is not too much of a surprise given what has transpired with the failed merger and the re-emergence of a shareholder who is now represented by two board members and clearly has a different strategic view of the future than the management team, though the timing is odd given the AGM tomorrow and the potential for some semblance of strategic clarity through the present tanker market upturn.”
Analysts at Jefferies, meanwhile, called the departure surprising though not unexpected.
