Simon Henry, the chief financial officer who oversaw Royal Dutch Shell’s £35bn takeover of BG Group, is to step down after seven years in the job.
He will be succeeded from March by Jessica Uhl, who joined the company from Enron, and now serves as finance director for its gas business, the company said on Thursday.
Ms Uhl will inherit one of the toughest finance jobs among FTSE 100 companies as Shell battles to maintain its prized dividend — which has not been cut since the second world war — in the face of rising debts.
Shell is aiming to sell $30bn of assets by the end of 2018 to relieve pressure on its balance sheet after the BG deal and two years of low oil and gas prices. So far, only $1.7bn of disposals have been completed and a further $3.3bn agreed.
Mr Henry, who has been with the Anglo-Dutch group for 34 years, will be remembered for helping to push through the transformative BG deal — completed in February when oil was trading at its lowest price for more than a decade — despite resistance from some shareholders.
Shell’s financial performance has been volatile during the integration but Mr Henry argued last month that the deal, which has greatly expanded the group’s focus on gas, was beginning to pay off after an 18 per cent rise in third-quarter earnings.
Charles Holliday, Shell chairman, praised Mr Henry “for strengthening capital management and the balance sheet such as to allow the acquisition of BG and executing that deal”.
He added Mr Henry’s “leadership in integrating the two companies and in re-orienting our strategy leaves us a financially stronger company”.
A recent rebound in oil prices above $50 per barrel — aided by planned production cuts by the Opec producers’ cartel — has eased some of the pressure on Shell. However, its debt-to-equity ratio remains close to the 30 per cent that Mr Henry has said was the maximum “comfortable” level.
Net debt tripled in the past year to $78bn at the end of the third quarter.
Mr Henry will remain at Shell until the end of June to assist with the transition. He will seek to complete several asset sales before then to reassure investors that the $30bn disposal target is achievable.
He said last month that 16 such deals were in progress. People briefed on the matter say these include assets in the North Sea and Gabon.
Ms Uhl, a US citizen, started out at Citigroup and moved to Enron, the scandal-hit US energy group, before joining Shell in 2004.
Ben van Beurden, Shell chief executive, said: “Jessica combines an external perspective with broad Shell experience and is a highly regarded executive with a track record of delivering key business objectives from cost leadership in complex operations to M&A delivery. I am delighted to welcome Jessica to the leadership of our company.”
Shell’s share price was essentially flat in morning trading at £22.45.
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