Ardagh Group chief financial officer John Sheehan is to step down, the company has announced.
The news came as Ardagh reported a loss for the third quarter of the year and weeks after it agreed a deal with bondholders to recapitalise the business.
Mr Sheehan will step down as group CFO at the end of the current year, the company said in a statement. He had signalled his plan to the board earlier in the year, it said, with a process under way to name his successor.
“We are extremely grateful to John for his commitment and diligence in delaying his planned departure until successful completion of the recapitalisation transaction earlier this month,” said executive chairman Mark Porto.
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The move comes barely a fortnight after Ardagh senior unsecured bondholders, who were owed about $2.4 billion (€2.1 billion), swapped their bonds for a 92.5 per cent stake in the business. At the same time, Mr Porto, known as a turnaround specialist, was named chairman.
Irishman Paul Coulson, who had built up the business over more than two decades, bowed out as a director and shareholder at the time with a $108 million pay out.
The remaining 7.5 per cent of the business has been earmarked for holders of Ardagh’s riskiest bonds, so-called payment-in-kind notes. Some 80 per cent of the holders of the $1.9 billion of PIK notes voted in favour of the deal, essentially writing off about 95 per cent of what they were owed.
Ardagh’s debt became unsustainable when its earnings were hit after the Covid-19 pandemic by inflation, soaring interest rates and soft consumer demand on both sides of the Atlantic. While the group’s metal containers business has recovered strongly, the glass bottles unit continues to struggle.
Mr Sheehan’s departure came as Ardagh reported a $335 million loss after tax for the third quarter of the year, compared to a $36 million loss for the same period a year earlier. Much of the widening loss was driven by exceptional costs tied to the recapitalisation process.
Revenue came in at $2.5 billion for the quarter, up from $2.4 billion in 2024, while adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (Ebitda) rose €394 million from €362 million year-on-year.
For the nine months to the end of September, sales increased from $6.9 billion to $7.2 billion while Ebitda was up marginally to just over $1 billion. The loss after tax for the nine months widened to $535 million from $377 million.
