Announcements by S4 Capital PLC (LSE:SFOR) and Airtel Africa PLC (LSE:AAF) that their finance chiefs are stepping down added to a noticeable trend in the number of departing finance directors.
S4 said chief financial officer Mary Basterfield is stepping down after more than three years at the ad agency led by Sir Martin Sorrell, while FTSE 100-listed Airtel said its CFO, Jaideep Paul, had decided to pursue a new position within the wider Bharti Group.
This takes the total number of exits by chief number-crunchers to four on the day and 12 by UK-listed firms so far in 2025 already, including two in the FTSE 100, according to an analysis by AJ Bell.
Changes at Airtel, S4, Oxford Instruments PLC (AIM:OXIG) and TT Electronics PLC (LSE:TTG) on Thursday include two retirements and two stepping down.
Do the CFOs know something we don't?
"Although there is no unifying theme across all of the changes, the cynically minded may be inclined to wonder if the chief number crunchers think they know something that the rest of us do not, given the slew of macroeconomic and geopolitical uncertainties which seem to be facing companies as we start the new year," the AJ Bell analysts said.
The research revealed a trend of much higher turnover among CFOs than chief executive officers in the FTSE 100, with 22 CFO changes in 2024 compared to 19 CEO exits, and 32 CFOs leaving in 2023 versus 14 for CEOs .
A dozen departures is a fast start, the analysts said, but the number of CFO changes is not massively out of kilter with recent trends.
"There are many reasons why a CFO may step down, including retirement, the search for a fresh challenge and failure to bag the CEO post when it comes available, although getting fired, jumping before earnings do not live up to expectations or previously published targets are also possibilities."
On average a CFO tenure lasts around four years in the FTSE 100, the analysis suggested, compared to five and a half years for the average CEO.
Female CFOs and CEOs
AJ Bell also noted an "eye-catching" trend in the number of CFOs who are women, with the appointment of Alison Dolan at Marks & Spencer taking the total number of female CFOs to 33, rising to 34 soon when Carole Cran replaces the retiring Steve Gunning at Halma at the end of March.
Notably, the average tenure for a female CFO is currently 1.9 years.
As for CEOs, there are just 11 women CEOs in London's blue-chip index.