By Anna Serafin and Evangelo Sipsas
(Reuters) - Swiss baked goods maker Aryzta (S:ARYN) has named a new chief executive after its CEO and other top managers quit in March following a profit warning that wiped off more than $1 billion (£768.5 million) off its market value.
Kevin Toland, now CEO of Dublin Airport Authority and formerly with nutritional ingredients maker Glanbia Plc (I:GL9), would start by November, Aryzta said in a statement late on Thursday, filling a vacuum that has kept Aryzta's shares under pressure.
The shares were up 3 percent at 34.60 Swiss francs (£27.2) at 0939 GMT, after plunging to 26.14 francs in February. They are still well off levels of early January that were around 45 francs.
Aryzta, which supplies baked goods to stores and fast food restaurants worldwide, is now led by Chairman Gary McGann after the CEO, chief financial officer and CEO for Americas quit.
UBS analyst Joern Iffert said Toland had a "healthy track record" including driving passenger growth at Dublin Airport and supporting the successful roll out of the Glanbia (I:GL9) cheese business in the United States.
North America is the biggest market for Aryzta, which has its roots as an Irish agricultural company.
Daniel Häuselmann, head of Swiss Equities at GAM Investment Management, said Aryzta needed to provide "more insight into the outlook (and) how much capital they need." GAM sold its stake in Aryzta last year.
Foster Corwith, portfolio manager at Causeway Capital Management, said he saw recovery potential but said rebuilding after "significant operational missteps" by the last management would take substantial investment. Thomson Reuters data show his firm was the top Aryzta shareholder with a 7.5 percent stake.