Dive Brief:
- Louis Dreyfus Company has appointed Sébastien Landerretche, an 11-year veteran of the agricultural trading giant and global head of freight since 2015, as its next permanent CFO effective Wednesday, according to a Friday company release.
- The move comes about three months after the company appointed an advisor, Nigel Mamalis, as its interim finance chief in the wake of the unexpected passing of its previous CFO Patrick Treuer, 52, who died in late December.
- Based in Rotterdam, The Netherlands, LDC’s CEO Michael Gelchie cited Landerretche’s company experience in his comments on the incoming finance chief. “I am confident that Sébastien’s extensive experience and deep understanding of our business will ensure strong leadership moving forward, driving our financial strategy in line with LDC’s strategic growth plans,” Gelchie said in a statement in the release.
Dive Insight:
Founded in 1851, Louis Dreyfus is the “D” of the four powerhouse global agribusiness companies known by the ABCD acronym that also includes Chicago-based Archer-Daniels-Midland, St. Louis, Missouri-based Bunge Global and Minnetonka, Minnesota-based Cargill. The historically volatile agricultural commodities industry has most recently been grappling with the escalating war in Iran threatening to disrupt supply chains ranging from corn and soybean to fertilizer and sugar, Bloomberg reported on March 2.
In choosing Landerretche, LD is getting an experienced finance leader steeped in the freight component of the business. After joining the company in 2004, he was based in China leading the company’s ocean freight research, later moving to Singapore where he held other roles including regional head of oilseeds and regional head of freight for Asia. Earlier in his career, he worked as financial controller at companies in China and immediately prior to joining the company, he served as president of SUISSENÉGOCE, the Swiss commodities’ merchant association.
Landerrechte’s predecessor Treuer served as CFO for more than six years and was also well known in the soccer world, having served as one of the Sunderland AFC soccer team’s non-executive directors. Treuer was remembered with a moment of silence ahead of a Premier league game late last month, CFO Dive previously reported.
Louis Dreyfus asserted in its H1 2025 Financial Highlights that its diversified business model enabled it to deliver “solid results” amid “a less disrupted but still-complex trade environment, marked by ongoing new challenges, including trade policies, and amid the economic slowdown [weighing] on global demand,” the report states.
Louis Dreyfus reported EBITDA of $987 million, compared to $1.057 billion in the year-earlier period on net sales that rose 2.3% year-over-year to $26.2 billion.
