Reckitt Benckiser Group PLC (RB.LN) said Tuesday it has appointed former Tesco PLC (TSCO.LN) and Unilever PLC (UL) executive Liz Doherty as its new chief financial officer as the consumer products giant looks to developing markets for growth.

U.K. national Doherty, who has 14 years international experience having worked in Australia, Spain, the Netherlands and Thailand, will join the company in January.

She will have a handover period with outgoing CFO Colin Day, who will leave the U.K.-based group at the end of March to focus on his portfolio of non-executive positions and other career interests, as announced last month.

Chief Executive Bart Becht said Doherty, 52, has "excellent international, consumer and listed company experience," and is a "great cultural fit" for the company.

Doherty has been CFO at Australian supply chain and information management solutions provider Brambles Industries PLC for the past two years, and prior to that was group international finance director of U.K. retail giant Tesco. Before Tesco, she spent 22 years at Unilever.

Before Doherty takes up the post at Reckitt Benckiser, she will stand down from her role as a non-executive director of brewing group SABMiller PLC (SAB.JO), a position she has held for four years.

Doherty wasn't available to comment on her new position.

Charles Stanley analyst Tom Gidley-Kitchin said Doherty's appointment as CFO "looks fine," adding that she "seems to have the right sort of background." Gidley-Kitchin has an accumulate rating on the stock.

At 1200 GMT, Reckitt Benckiser shares were down 38 pence, or 1.1%, at 3546 pence, valuing the company at GBP25.72 billion, in a lower London market.

Reckitt Benckiser earlier this month posted a 19% jump in third-quarter net profit as demand for the company's personal-care products in developing markets offset weakness in Europe and North America.

The maker of Airwick air fresheners, Finish dishwasher powder and Clearasil acne cream also set new forecasts for 2010 as management starts work on integrating the company's recent GBP2.54 billion acquisition of SSL International PLC.

-By Simon Zekaria, Dow Jones Newswires; +44 207 842-9410; simon.zekaria@dowjones.com
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