Heineken seeks improved market performance

Anthony Ruys, chairman and chief executive of Heineken since 2002, will leave his post on October 1, 18 months ahead of schedule as part of a comprehensive management overhaul.

The changes are an effort to reverse a trend of reduced profits that have been blamed on the falling dollar.

Ruys will be replaced by Jean Francois van Boxmeer, who will be the first non-Dutchman to head Heineken. Van Boxmeer, a Belgian, has been with the company for more than 20 years.

Other changes in management include reduction of the company’s executive board from five to three members and the replacement of its 36-member senior management group with a 13-member executive committee.

The changes reflect concerns of the supervisory board and senior executives that Heineken is not sufficiently able to deal quickly with moves by its competitors, especially in the wake of several recent mergers.

Heineken, the fourth largest brewer in the world, will institute a geographically-based operating system to replace its current single-market approach.

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