Diageo appoints new CFO

International drinks giant Diageo has appointed Kathryn Mikells as its new chief financial officer.

She will replace present incumbent Deirdre Mahlan who is to head to the company’s North America business.

In June, the beer, spirits and wine group appointed Mahlan as its next North America president.

The firm confirmed that Mikells will replace Mahlan from 9 November.

Mikells, 50, joins Diageo from Xerox Corp, where she has been CFO since mid-2013.

She has also held the role at ADT, Nalco and United Airlines.

“Diageo is focused on driving performance from our core and on improving productivity to drive out cost to invest in growth,” said CEO Ivan Menezes.

“Kathryn has the experience of working with teams to drive disciplined performance management which will contribute to the achievement of our performance ambition.”

Diageo’s next set of results will be its half-year interim figures, which will be released on 28 January.