- Lily Liu will become Umicore Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer on August 1, 2026.
- Wannes Peferoen will leave after 20 years and serve as special advisor until February 28, 2027.
- Marten Zieris will join as Chief Digital & Transformation Officer on August 1, 2026, responsible for Operational Excellence and Digitalization & Information Systems.
- Lily Liu joins from Synthomer, where she has been CFO since July 2022, and previously held CFO roles at Essentra, Xaar and Smiths Detection.
CFO succession
Lily Liu will join as Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer effective August 1, 2026; she succeeds Wannes Peferoen, who will leave after 20 years and remain in a special advisory role until February 28, 2027.
Liu joins from Synthomer, where she has been CFO since July 2022; she holds British and Australian citizenship, has 20+ years of financial leadership across chemicals, manufacturing and engineering, and previously served as CFO at Essentra, Xaar and Smiths Detection and as a non-executive director at DCC plc.
Chief Digital & Transformation Officer
Umicore is creating a Chief Digital & Transformation Officer role to lead Operational Excellence and Digitalization & Information Systems, improve synergies across processes, data and digital technology, and accelerate AI adoption.
Marten Zieris will assume the role effective August 1, 2026; he has over 15 years of transformation and change experience and was Partner and Head of Growth & Transformation Practice for Central Europe at Arthur D. Little, holding a degree in Business Administration from the University of Bayreuth.
Q1 update and analyst call
Umicore will publish a Q1 trading update and outlook for the remainder of 2026 at 17:40 CEST and will host an audio call for analysts and investors at 19:00 CEST featuring CEO Bart Sap and CFO Wannes Peferoen. Media enquiries should be directed to Umicore Media Relations.
