Campbell Soup CEO quits

NEW YORK: Campbell Soup Co Chief Executive Officer Denise Morrison unexpectedly stepped down on Friday, as the company issued a bleak forecast for the year and said it would embark on a review of its many brands.

Campbell´s shares slumped 12 percent in mid-afternoon trading, hitting a more than five-year low and putting them on track for the worst one-day decline since 1999.Food companies like Campbell have been pressured as consumers increasingly move away from processed food toward healthier options.

The shifting consumer tastes are partly to blame for four straight years of declines at Campbell´s U.S. soup business, a period that Morrison oversaw.

Campbell in 2015 reorganized into three divisions, creating the Campbell Fresh unit after combining what was a Packaged Fresh division with soups sold to supermarket delis. But Campbell Fresh struggled, resulting in a two-year decline in organic sales.

On Friday, Campbell Soup posted a loss of $393 million, or $1.31 per share, for the fiscal third quarter ended April 29, compared with a profit a year ago, mainly due to a $619 million charge related to Campbell Fresh.

Morrison, 64, departs the company after seven years at the helm. Campbell provided no reason for her departure.

It named board member Keith McLoughlin, 61, a former CEO of vacuum maker Electrolux, as interim CEO.