FRANKFURT (dpa-AFX) - The resignation of Chief Financial Officer Marcus Kuhnert at pharmaceutical and technology group Merck KGaA somewhat spoiled the mood of investors on Monday. In the afternoon, the share of the Darmstadt-based company was last quoted 1.96 percent lower at 162.25 euros. Shortly before the news, the price drop amounted to only about 0.7 percent.

Merck had previously announced that Kuhnert would step down as chief financial officer at the end of June after a nine-year tenure and be replaced by Helene von Roeder, who is currently still on the board of real estate group Vonovia. Von Roeder has also been on the Supervisory Board of Merck KGaA and the Board of Partners of E. Merck KG since 2019.

The change in this position comes as a surprise and is likely to be met with disappointment by investors, analyst Richard Vosser of JPMorgan wrote in an initial reaction. However, he added that it is reassuring that there is continuity in the rest of the company's strong management team./edh/he