Alliance One International President Pieter Sikkel will assume the additional role of chief executive officer in March, a move the leaf tobacco merchant said will close out restructuring begun in December, 2010.

Interim CEO and Board Chairman Mark Kehaya will stay on during the transition as non-executive board chairman, Alliance One said.
Alliance operating income rose more than USD 5 million to USD 49.3 million (EUR 36.4 million)  in the three months ending 31 Dec on sales of USD 699 million. Through nine months of the Alliance fiscal year, operating income was stable at USD 104.4 million on revenue that increased to USD 1.63 billion from USD 1.37 billion. Restructuring and impairment charges through nine months were lower at USD 56 thousand compared with USD 1.6 million in March-Dec of 2011.
“Alliance One is in a substantially stronger position to address the varied challenges and opportunities of this industry,” Sikkel said. (ci)