Three Chemours Top Execs Placed on Leave

Chemours has placed CEO Mark Newman, its CFO and principal accounting officer on administrative leave, which led to dropped shares.

The chemical manufacturer said it was looking into potential "material weaknesses" in its financial reporting. The internal review also prompted the company to further delay the reporting of its Q4 and full-year results, without disclosing a new date. Earlier this month Chemours said it would delay its results to February 28.

"What we think many perceived as likely a relatively minor accounting hang-up two weeks ago now appears wider, longer, and with more ramifications than the market initially believed," said Barclays analyst Michael Leithead.

The weaknesses included the effectiveness of the "tone at the top" set by certain members of senior management, Chemours reportedly said on Wednesday. CFO Jonathan Lock and Principal Accounting Officer Camela Wisel were also placed on leave, the company said.

Shares were trading down 42% after briefly being halted for volatility. More than 11 million shares were traded within the first hour of trading, compared with its surpassing a short-term average of over a million shares, Reuters reported. The administrative leave of CEO, CFO and controller is a negative that is compounded by the delay in releasing year-end financials, brokerage Jefferies said.

Chemours named Denise Dignam, president of Chemours' Titanium Technologies (TT) business, as CEO. Also Matt Abbott, SVP & chief enterprise transformation officer, was named as CFO, both on an interim basis.