Taking over at Dia: President DuCharme leaves the company after relaunching it, but without appreciating the share

Relief at the top of Grupo Dia. The until now president Stephan DuCharme announced his resignation this Friday. The decision comes after the termination of his professional relationship with LetterOne, the holding company that controls the supermarket chain.. It comes out after completing the relaunch of the brand, immersed in a transformation process that, however, has not been reflected in the share price.

The board of directors of Dia has informed the National Securities Market Commission (CNMV) of the resignation of DuCharme as director and president of the governing body of the supermarket chain and of his replacement in the position of non-executive president by Benjamin J. Babcock, Chief Financial Officer of LetterOne.

Stephan DuCharme joined Grupo Dia in 2019 when LetterOne became the company's main shareholder, at which time he assumed the role of non-executive president and later held the position of executive president.. After these 5 years at the helm of Grupo Dia, he has led the profound strategic and cultural transformation that the organization has undergone. DuCharme became President of the Board of Directors in September 2022 with the promotion of Martín Tolcachir as CEO of Grupo Dia.

Just three months ago, during his speech at the company's shareholders meeting, DuCharme assured that Dia had experienced “an important turning point” in 2022.. “Three years ago we began a challenging journey with the objective of building a new Dia with two key elements: deploying a new value proposition and renewing our assortment and rebuilding relationships with our stakeholders.. We have met the key milestones of a strategy that has proven to be appropriate,” he stated, although he acknowledged that “this transformation is not being reflected in the share price at the rate that many of us would like.”

In a statement, the new president thanked him for the services provided during his mandate, highlighting “his valuable contribution to the transformation of the group and the consolidation towards business growth.”

For its part, DuCharme has highlighted that, during this time, it has focused on “offering a differentiated value proposition compared to our competitors, a new store concept, reviewing our assortment and accelerating the development of our own brand.” .

Likewise, it has influenced the simplification of Dia's portfolio, “which will allow efforts to be focused on the strengths of the business with the medium-term objective of being a relevant player in any of the geographies in which Dia is present.”. Thus, the recent agreement with Auchan for the sale of the business in Portugal, the sale of Clarel and the simplification of the network in Spain have been strategic decisions that follow this orientation.

“I am delighted to support Dia as president during this period in which LetterOne is actively seeking a new proprietary representative,” said Benjamin B.. Babcock, who thanked his predecessor for his “important work” and his “contribution to the transformation of the group and the consolidation towards the growth of the business.”

The new president has also highlighted “LetterOne's constant commitment to the continuity of Grupo Dia's value creation strategy for all the company's stakeholders in these years, and to the construction of a relevant player in food distribution. proximity in the markets in which Dia operates. The strategy is showing results and we are confident that they will continue in the future.”

For his part, Tolcachir has assured that “after a phase of redirection and acceleration towards growth, we have moved on to a phase of business consolidation”. And he stated that “without Stephan's work this would not have been possible”. “His leadership at Grupo Dia has allowed us to promote our purpose and redirect our business,” he insisted, adding that “our commitment is proximity and our strategy is clear. With Ben's support as president we will continue with our roadmap that is bearing fruit.”