GENEVA (AFP) - Swiss certification and inspection group Societe Generale de Surveillance (SGS) said its chief executive, Werner Pluss, had resigned for health reasons barely three months after taking the job.
Executive vice president for consumer services Johan Allegaert would fill his post temporarily until a permanent appointment was made, hopefully by the end of the year, the company said.
"The board of directors is saddened by developments impacting on Mr. Plusss health conditions and wishes him the speediest recovery," Georges Muller, chairman of the board, said in a statement.
Pluss was named chief executive on June 1 after the firm's previous boss, Sergio Marchionne, was snatched up by Italian conglomerate Fiat.
Born in 1944, Pluss joined SGS in 1966 and worked his way up to become responsible for the company's global oil, gas and chemical services.
The Swiss national has previously headed the firm's operations in France and in 2000 was named area executive for France, Britain, Ireland and Portugal.
For his part, Allegaert, a Belgian, joined SGS in 1974. A fluent Chinese speaker, he has spent the past 13 years working between Hong Kong, China and Taiwan, the company said.
SGS enjoyed a net profit in 2003 of 227 million Swiss francs (145.5 million euros, 184 million dollars), a rise of 108 percent over the previous year.
Shares in SGS fell 1.86 percent to 685 Swiss francs in early trade following the surprise announcement.