Danish shipping and oil group A.P. Moller-Maersk said on Monday the sick leave of its chief executive, Nils Smedegaard Andersen, would be extended by six to eight weeks pending further surgery to fix a heart problem, Reuters reports.
Shares in A.P. Moller-Maersk, whose Maersk Line is the world's biggest container shipping company, fell as much as 1.6 percent but pared losses to 1 percent by 0846 GMT, underperforming a 0.1 percent dip in the Copenhagen bourse's bluechip index of 20 most valuable and most traded Danish stocks.
Andersen, aged 53, has been convalescing since the end of December when he was admitted to hospital in Switzerland and underwent an operation for a leaky heart valve.
He was initially expected to be away for a month, but his sick leave was extended at the end of January for a further two months.
After the previous extension, he had been expected to resume his duties on Monday, slightly ahead of schedule "due to a fast and good recovery," but his physicians decided differently on Friday, A.P. Moller-Maersk said in a statement.
His surgery is scheduled for March 28 and his sick leave extended by six to eight weeks as advised by his physicians, A.P. Moller-Maersk said.
"Until now, and going forward, the Executive Board will run the A.P. Moller-Maersk Group," it said.
During Andersen's absence, the individual members of the six-member Executive board will report to the Chairman of the Board, Michael Pram Rasmussen, A.P. Moller-Maersk said.
The Executive Board consists of Andersen, Chief Financial Officer Trond Westlie, and the heads of the container shipping, oil drilling, port terminals and oil and gas divisions.
Shares in A.P. Moller-Maersk, whose Maersk Line is the world's biggest container shipping company, fell as much as 1.6 percent but pared losses to 1 percent by 0846 GMT, underperforming a 0.1 percent dip in the Copenhagen bourse's bluechip index of 20 most valuable and most traded Danish stocks.
Andersen, aged 53, has been convalescing since the end of December when he was admitted to hospital in Switzerland and underwent an operation for a leaky heart valve.
He was initially expected to be away for a month, but his sick leave was extended at the end of January for a further two months.
After the previous extension, he had been expected to resume his duties on Monday, slightly ahead of schedule "due to a fast and good recovery," but his physicians decided differently on Friday, A.P. Moller-Maersk said in a statement.
His surgery is scheduled for March 28 and his sick leave extended by six to eight weeks as advised by his physicians, A.P. Moller-Maersk said.
"Until now, and going forward, the Executive Board will run the A.P. Moller-Maersk Group," it said.
During Andersen's absence, the individual members of the six-member Executive board will report to the Chairman of the Board, Michael Pram Rasmussen, A.P. Moller-Maersk said.
The Executive Board consists of Andersen, Chief Financial Officer Trond Westlie, and the heads of the container shipping, oil drilling, port terminals and oil and gas divisions.