Less than five months after joining Akzo Nobel (AKZA), chief executive Ton Büchner fell ill. That was a blow for investors who had high hopes that the Dutchman would turn around the paints and coatings giant, and Akzo shares, which had risen 8 per cent from our buy tip (€45.24, 22 March 2012), dripped back.
Mr Büchner returns to the hot seat on 7 December and the shares are heading higher. In his absence, the company reported a 6 per cent increase in third-quarter sales to €4.3bn and a rise in cash profits to €540m. It should deliver the promised €200m of cost savings by the end of 2012, too, but it's the decorative paints division that is top of Mr Büchner's to-do list following a widely expected €2.5bn writedown, a hangover from its purchase of ICI in 2008.
