DCC Energy chief to depart amid leadership shake up

Conglomerate annodunced plans in November to focus on its energy division

Kevin Lucey (left) will step into a newly created chief operating role at DCC, the group said in a statement, with Conor Murphy (right) replacing him as CFO. Photograph: Barry McCall
Kevin Lucey (left) will step into a newly created chief operating role at DCC, the group said in a statement, with Conor Murphy (right) replacing him as CFO. Photograph: Barry McCall

DCC, the conglomerate that owns Flogas, has announced the departure of its energy division chief, months after unveiling plans to focus on the sector and simplify its operations.

The Dublin headquartered but London-listed group, which sells everything from catheters to hospitals to audiovisual equipment to events companies, also revealed on Thursday that Kevin Lucey will step into a newly created chief operating officer role in July.

Mr Lucey, who has served as chief financial officer (CFO) since 2020, has been with the company since 2010 and previously held other senior positions at DCC, including head of capital markets.

He will be responsible “for driving the performance of our energy activities” in line with DCC’s new strategy, unveiled in November last year, the group said.

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Replacing Mr Lucey is current DCC Energy CFO Conor Murphy, who has been with the company since 1998, holding positions including group finance director, DCC said.

Meanwhile, Fabian Ziegler, chief executive of DCC Energy, is to leave the company after three years.

Mr Ziegler “has made a considerable contribution” to the group’s energy strategy, DCC said in a statement.

Donal Murphy, DCC chief executive, said: “We announced decisive actions in November to simplify our group, pursue our largest growth and returns opportunity in energy and unlock substantial shareholder value.

He said the group is building a “unique” energy business and its new leadership team has “extensive experience in the energy sector and the commercial agility” to achieve its goals.

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DCC chairman Mark Breuer said the board engaged in a “comprehensive process” to find Mr Lucey’s replacement and was “very pleased to unanimously approve the appointment” as its outcome.

In a trading update in February, DCC said it performed in line with expectations in the third quarter, as it executed its new strategy to concentrate on the core energy business and sell its healthcare division.

It said the disposal process was progressing as expected.

Ian Curran

Ian Curran

Ian Curran is a Business reporter with The Irish Times