LONDON (ShareCast) - (Sharecast News) - Smiths Group announced the retirement of chief financial officer Clare Scherrer on Tuesday, confirming her successor while also upgrading its guidance for revenue growth.
The FTSE 100 company said Scherrer would step down from her role on 31 January and leave on 30 April, following a handover period through the release of the 2025 first-half results.

Scherrer's successor would be Julian Fagge, currently president of Smiths Interconnect.

Fagge would assume his new responsibilities as CFO and executive director effective 1 February.

Smiths said Fagge, who joined the firm in 2013, would bring extensive financial, strategic, and commercial expertise.

He had held key roles including group financial controller, group strategy and M&A director, and leadership positions as president of Flex-Tek and Smiths Interconnect.

His prior experience included finance leadership roles at Royal Caribbean Cruises and a 12-year tenure at Procter & Gamble.

Fagge is also a chartered accountant and a non-executive director of Nascit.

In addition to the leadership update, Smiths upgraded its 2025 guidance for organic revenue growth to between 6% and 8%, an increase from the previously raised range of 5% to 7%.

That reflected a stronger-than-expected performance, particularly in the Smiths Detection and Smiths Interconnect divisions during the second quarter, as well as improved order book visibility.

It maintained its guidance for a 40 to 60 basis point expansion in operating profit margin for the year, supported by progress in its acceleration plan.

"Julian becomes our CFO at a very exciting time as we continue to drive sustainable growth, as evidenced by today's upgrade," said chief executive officer Roland Carter.

"Julian has a strong track record of strategic execution.

"Clare has played an important role in delivering the success we have collectively achieved in recent years. I wish her all the best for the future."

Reporting by Josh White for Sharecast.com.

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