Peabody Energy CFO leaving; successor named

Peabody Energy CFO Michael Crews plans to leave the St. Louis-based company by the end of July to take the top financial position “at a major industrial firm,” Peabody said Wednesday.

Amy Schwetz will take Crews’ position as executive vice president and CFO, Peabody said.

Schwetz has been in financial positions with Peabody for 10 years, including senior vice president of finance and administration – Australia, her most recent post; senior vice president of finance and administration – Americas; vice president of investor relations; vice president of capital and financial planning; director of financial planning; and director of compliance and accounting policies. Schwetz previously worked at accounting firm Ernst and Young, and was a Business Journal 40 Under 40 winner in 2012. She earned a bachelor’s degree in accounting from Indiana University.

Crews told the Business Journal in 2012 that Schwetz helped guide the company through its purchase of Macarthur.

In its most recent proxy statement, Peabody Energy said Crews “took accountability for the platform-wide Global Repositioning project, which has resulted in annualized savings and led to the establishment of a Global Business Services framework to reduce administrative and support costs.” Peabody said Crews also facilitated relationships with banks to help ensure credit efficiency. Further, under Crews, the company offered a voluntary lump-sum pension payout option to former salaried employees who participated in its legacy pension plan, and settled about US$42 million of pension obligations, according to the proxy filing. – St Louis Business Journal