Shares in Italian designer sunglasses maker Luxottica fell 10% on news its chief executive is leaving after just six weeks in the job.
Luxottica appointed Enrico Cavatorta last month after its long-serving boss Andrea Guerra quit amid rumours of a falling out with chairman of the Ray-Ban glasses maker, Leonardo Del Vecchio.
Del Vecchio is reported to have proposed that Massimo Vian, the chief operations officer, should now take over as co-chief executive.
Del Vecchio, who is one of Italy's richest and most famous businessmen, owns 66 per cent of the company and it has been rumoured that succession planning and differences over strategy have led to the management issues.
Luca Solca, a luxury goods analyst at Exane BNP Paribas, said: “The situation in the senior management team remains very fluid, but this seems more dependent on succession issues than on business specific matters…. We expect senior management turmoil to take a toll and suggest investors to sit on the fence for the moment.”
