The Chemours Company announced the appointment of Denise Dignam, current interim chief executive officer, to the positions of president and CEO and a member of the board of directors, effective immediately. The change follows an internal review that accused Chemours executives of manipulating cash flow.
Dignam, who joined Chemours in 2015, brings more than 35 years of experience in the chemical industry where she has held senior roles in business and operations, sales and marketing, commercialization and supply chain. She had served as interim CEO since February 2024, and prior to that held the positions of president, Titanium Technologies (TT) segment, and president, Advanced Performance Materials (APM) segment.
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According to the Chemours audit committee, last quarter, CEO and president Mark Newman, CFO and senior vice president Jonathan Lock and financial executive Camela Wisel looked to delay payments to vendors that were supposed to be made at the end of 2023. They also sought receivables that were not due until the beginning of 2024.
The increased cash flow measures included publicly communicated free cash flow targets, a metric that determines executive officers’ incentive compensations. Upon discovering this information, the committee determined that the senior management members, who had already been placed on administrative leave, violated Chemours’ code of ethics.
The audit committee recently completed its planned procedures with respect to the internal review. The review determined that payments of up to approximately $100 million were delayed until the first quarter of 2024, primarily to certain vendors that were originally due to be paid in the fourth quarter of 2023. The review also found that a collection of up to approximately $260 million of receivables that were originally not due to be received until the first quarter of 2024 were accelerated into the fourth quarter of 2023.
Additionally, the review determined that similar actions were taken in the fourth quarter of 2022, resulting in a delay of up to approximately $40 million of payments and the acceleration of the collection of up to approximately $175 million of receivables.
Chemours also reported its fourth quarter and full year 2023 results, which included fourth quarter net sales of $1.4 billion and 2023 net sales of $6 billion. According to Chemours, the material weaknesses identified by management in connection with the internal review did not result in any material misstatements of the company's financial statements or disclosers.
However, the company did make immaterial revisions to three 2023 financial statements, the company balance sheet as of December 31, 2022 and the statement of cash flows for the years ended December 31, 2022 and 2021.
Chemours disclosed that Interim Chief Financial Officer Matthew S. Abbott will continue in his role while Chemours conducts a comprehensive search for a permanent CFO. Additionally, Diane Iuliano Picho, vice president of human resources and chief of staff, Titanium Technologies, will step in as interim president, Titanium Technologies while Chemours searches for a permanent segment president.
