By Maria Armental

Activision Blizzard Inc. is promoting Armin Zerza to chief financial officer and said the company is on track to beat first-quarter financial targets.

The company, which is slated to report first-quarter results on May 4, said Mr. Zerza will take over as CFO in the second quarter, following the retirement of Dennis Durkin.

Mr. Zerza, who joined the company in 2015, is chief commercial officer of Activision Blizzard and chief operating officer of Blizzard Entertainment.

"When I recruited Armin to become CFO of Blizzard six years ago, I expected him to one day become the CFO of the entire company," said Thomas Tippl, Activision's vice chairman, who has worked with Mr. Zerza for more than 20 years, going back to Procter & Gamble Co.

"Two years ago, in a very difficult situation, Dennis stepped in again as our CFO, and his efforts and focus helped the company return to growth and established the momentum we now have," Chief Executive Bobby Kotick said, adding that Mr. Zerza's financial and operational know-how, "balanced with a great appreciation for the need to ensure inspiration and creativity -- makes him uniquely suited to serve as our next Chief Financial Officer."

Write to Maria Armental at maria.armental@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

03-29-21 1649ET