Stephen Rolfs, senior vice president and chief financial officer of Milwaukee-based Sensient Technologies Corp. will retire on June 30, the company announced.
Rolfs has served as Sensient’s CFO since February of 2015.
Tobin Tornehl will be named the company’s CFO upon Rolfs’ retirement. Tornehl joined Sensient in 2008 and has served as vice president, controller, and chief accounting officer, since 2018. Prior to joining Sensient, Tornehl worked in a variety of financial leadership roles at Jefferson Wells and Ernst & Young.
“On behalf of the board of directors and the executive team, I want to thank Steve for his financial leadership and his significant contributions over his more than 25 years with the company,” said Paul Manning, chairman of the board, president, and chief executive officer of Sensient. “I am also pleased to have Tobin succeed Steve as chief financial officer. I have had the chance to work closely with Tobin over the last five years, and he is well suited to lead our financial function going forward. His promotion is a sign of Sensient’s strong talent pool and thoughtful succession planning.”
In addition, the company announced that it will be increasing its board of directors from nine to ten directors and nominating Brett Bruggeman, chief operating officer of Arden Hills, Minnesota-based Land O’Lakes Inc., for election to the board.
“We are delighted to nominate Brett to the board,” Manning said. “He brings over 30 years of food industry experience, including 16 years at Land O’Lakes. His insights into agribusiness will be invaluable as the company continues our expansion in natural colors and flavors across all of its business units.”
Sensient is a global manufacturer of colors, flavors, and other specialty ingredients.
The company reported $1.46 billion in revenue for 2023, a 1.4% increase compared to 2022. Its 2023 net earnings of $93.4 million were down 33.7% compared to 2022. Its 2023 diluted earnings per share of $2.21 were down from $3.34 in 2022.
“As expected, 2023 was a transitional year for the market and Sensient as inflation and destocking provided significant headwinds. I expect a better environment in 2024 with a return to volume growth and continuation of our strong sales win rate. Concurrently, we are proactively reducing costs through a portfolio optimization plan that we expect to provide significant cost savings. Overall, I am optimistic about 2024,” said Manning.
Sensient expects its 2024 diluted earnings per share to be between $2.80 and $2.90.
