Douglas - Keppel

All,

The appointment of Michael Keppel as CRO is unsettling the market this morning. We regard it as good news.

Despite the scary title of CRO, Michael is first and foremost an operating and turnaround manager - much like Bobby Rajan last year, although with a clearer retail focus. We have made some calls to find out if A&M are still involved behind Keppel, but have not yet heard back.

Presumably it also reflects the confirmation at Douglas after the first weeks of re-opening that a significant portion of its revenues have moved online for good. His positioning on the board alongside Tina Mueller as returning CEO on the one hand reflects the importance of the restructuring of the store network, while on the other not alarming us as a replacement would have done (Keppel’s team is also on the small side for that). Both are starting and re-starting on July 1st.

Wolfgang