FRANKFURT (dpa-AFX) - The premature resignation of the company's long-standing CEO has come as a shock to Evotec investors. As was announced the evening before after the close of trading, Werner Lanthaler will step down before the end of his contract after almost 15 years for personal reasons. This caused the share price to slide by around 9 percent below EUR 19.50 in pre-Borsen Tradegate trading. A brief recovery above the EUR 20 mark was short-lived.

Lanthaler justified his resignation with an "extremely challenging and exhausting year 2023, both physically and overall". Supervisory Board member Mario Polywka will reportedly take over the management of the company for the time being.

In an initial commentary, analyst Charles Weston of RBC emphasized his belief that the company's business is in safe hands. Evotec, meanwhile, reiterated its business forecast for the past year. In addition, a partnership with the biotech company Owkin was announced on Thursday./tih/jha/