Dentsply Sirona (Nasdaq: XRAY) announced today that it has fired CEO Don Casey, who has held the corner office at the dental products and technologies company since 2018.
XRAY shares were down more than 13% to $42.20 apiece by today’s close of trading.
Board member John Groetelaars, who was CEO of Hillrom until its acquisition by Baxter late last year, will serve as interim CEO.
Barbara Bodem, the CFO at Hillrom under Groetelaars, is joining Dentsply Sirona as interim CFO effective April 25. Outgoing CFO Jorge Gomez was already in the process of leaving to assume a similar role at Moderna.
Charlotte, North Carolina-based Dentsply Sirona didn’t directly explain the CEO change, but the numbers likely tell the story.
In the same news release announcing the termination of Casey’s employment, Dentsply Sirona released anticipated Q1 financial results of adjusted EPS in the range of 48–52¢, with sales expected to decline 1.4% year-over-year to roughly $965 million. The Street had expected better: EPS of 67¢ on sales of $1.02 billion.
“Relative to last year, these results reflect weaker sales performance in the U.S., global supply chain challenges, and foreign exchange headwinds,” the company said in the release.
The release also quoted Groetelaars as saying, in part, “The board is confident that renewing the company’s focus on execution will stabilize the business and deliver strong performance despite ongoing macroeconomic challenges. This will be my focus from day one, and I am prepared to leverage my prior executive leadership experience as I work with the rest of the Board and management team to drive the Company’s strategy and advance its vision to transform dentistry and improve oral health globally.”
Non-executive Board Chair Eric Brandt still said some positive words about Casey: “On behalf of the board, I would like to thank Don for his many contributions to our company. Don has played a key role in strengthening our foundation and advancing our mission to create innovative solutions for healthy smiles. We wish him all the best in his future endeavors.”
Dentsply Sirona said its board has retained an unnamed “leading executive search firm” to help it find the next CEO.