Forsters Breaking out nicely, page-4

re: Forsters Breaking out. TO: skippa skippa, this could have something to do with FGL's stock price.
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Shock departure for Foster's beer chief
By BRUCE BRAMMALL
18jun02

MYSTERY surrounds the shock departure from Foster's Group of its beer marketing guru Paul Kennedy.

In a short media release issued at 5pm yesterday, Mr Kennedy said he would leave his position as vice-president marketing for Carlton and United Breweries next month.

In the release, Mr Kennedy said "it's time for a change".

"I flagged to the company some 18 months ago that I probably would be moving on this year," he said.

But the announcement follows several days of rumours in the marketing and alcohol industries.

Mr Kennedy has not returned the Herald Sun's phone calls left on his mobile on Friday and yesterday.

The media release was faxed from the office of city-based solicitor Tony Macken.

When initially contacted by the Herald Sun, Mr Macken refused to confirm or deny whether Mr Kennedy was a client.

In a second phone call, he confirmed he had sent the media release for Mr Kennedy but he said any further questions would have to be referred to Mr Kennedy.

Rumours of Mr Kennedy's departure began circulating in the middle of last week. But up until just before 5pm yesterday, Foster's spokeswoman Nicole Devlin said Mr Kennedy was still an employee of the company.

"He has not left the company," Ms Devlin said. "He remains the vice-president of marketing."

But she said that Mr Kennedy had not been at work since Friday, June 7.

Late yesterday, Ms Devlin said staff had been told that Mr Kennedy had left CUB.

She said a letter went out "thanking him (Mr Kennedy) for his contributions to CUB over the past six and a half years".

David Yardley, currently general manager of brands and marketing, will assume Mr Kennedy's responsibilities until a permanent replacement is found.

Mr Kennedy's statement listed what he said were his "significant achievements" during his tenure at CUB.

These included the "consistent growth for VB (Victoria Bitter) within the regular beer segment" and other marketing milestones.

But Foster's own financial reports suggest the VB brand is suffering badly, particularly during 2001.

For the half year ended December 31, 2001, VB suffered a 6 per cent decline in sales, while for the entire year, the fall was 4.7 per cent.

Foster's share price remained flat at $4.62.

Herald Sun