Treasury Wine Estates (TWE) has confirmed that its Chief Operating Officer, Robert Foye, has left the company effective immediately.
In a statement about the departure, TWE said it was “due to a breach of TWE’s internal policies unrelated to the Company’s trading performance”.
The statement added: “Tim Ford, Deputy Chief Operating Office will assume the role of Chief Operating Officer and take responsibility for oversight of TWE’s operating regions across the global business, reporting to Chief Executive Officer, Michael Clarke.”
Foye joined TWE from Coca-Cola in 2014 and was promoted to COO in 2017, with some reports suggesting he was being positioned as Clarke’s successor.
While the specific reasons behind Foye’s departure are unknown, TWE does have a Code of Conduct which is underpinned by the company’s ‘Growth Behaviours’ which signal “what type of company we aspire to be, and the behaviour we regard as appropriate”.
The Growth Behaviours are: “Be focused, inspire belief, build trust and collaborate to win”.
As well as committing and agreeing to “consistently demonstrate the TWE Growth Behaviours” the Code of Conduct also requires employees to “always act with honest, integrity and fairness; treat customers, shareholders, the public, fellow employees, contractors and the communities in which we operate with courtesy and respect.” It also requires employees to “maintain a work environment free of discrimination, harassment and bullying”, as part of a 14-point policy statement.
The Code also states: “A breach of any of the provisions of this Policy may constitute a disciplinary offence and will be dealt with in accordance with relevant TWE regional disciplinary procedures, up to and including dismissal from your employment.”
In its statement to the ASX about Foye’s departure TWE also reiterated that the company is “very happy with the trading performance across all operating regions”, and that the results for the first half of the 2019 financial year will be “above consensus EBITS of $332m, and will be within the range of $335m to $340m”.