Canaccord downgrades Genel Energy, cautious after founder announces exit

Analysts at Canaccord Genuity downgraded their recommendation on shares of Genel Energy following the recent string of top level management exiting the firm, especially those announced the day before.

As many as five top directors, including chief Tony Hayward and finance director Ben Monaghan, had announced their intention to step down from their posts in quick succession over the previous six weeks.

However, while the latter was "disappointing" what truly irked analyst Charlie Sharp was the announcement on 5 June that Genel's founder, Nat Rothschild, and non-executive director Simon Lockett were also leaving.

"Very surprising," Sharp said.

"The quick-fire catalogue of senior management and board member exits taken together add up to a concerning view of the upper levels of the company's management and board. In our view, this creates considerable uncertainty just ahead of the AGM, particularly related to the two resignations announced today," Sharp said.

The analyst kept his target price for Genel's stock unchanged at 95.0p but downgraded his recommendation from 'speculative buy' to 'hold'.