Ahrendts Job Swap Causes Stock Turmoil

THE announcement of Angela Ahrendts's move from the helm of Burberry to Apple, announced yesterday, caused turmoil on the stock exchange almost as soon as the news broke.

By mid-morning, Burberry shares were down 75p - knocking £330 330 million off the value of the company in just a few hours.Apple shares, meanwhile, rose slightly as the news filtered through, up around 5p within hours of the Nasdaq opening.Burberry shares also fell in February this year when it was announced that the group's finance director, Stacey Cartwright, was stepping down.

In a note to clients, Morgan Stanley said that there was likely to be concern as a result of the changes:"We anticipate some investor concern about combining the chief creative officer and CEO roles, which are both time consuming and require very different skill sets."

The drop mirrors the effect seen by other labels with a high-profile change at the top - including Marks & Spencer after Sir Stuart Rose's departure and Mulberry following Emma Hill's resignation, which both experienced a temporary dip in share price following the announcements.

Since Ahrendts joined Burberry in 2006, the market value of the company has risen from £2.1 billion to £7.03 billion, the Financial Times reports, and the company's shares have risen 461 per cent in the past five years.Ahrendts's departure leaves the FTSE 100 with just two female CEOs - Carolyn McCall at easyJet and Alison Cooper at Imperial Tobacco.