Avnet Names William Amelio as CEO; Distributor Seeks Rebound -

Avnet CEO William Amelio — William Amelio

Avnet Inc. (NYSE: AVT) has found its next CEO. Bill Amelio, Avnet's interim CEO since July, has been promoted into the permanent role, the distributor announced today. Now, Amelio and the executive team will seek to turn around Avnet's business, which has suffered from a lengthy ERP deployment and other business challenges in recent quarters.

In a prepared statement, Amelio said:

“For me, Avnet is all about passion and possibilities. We have an experienced management team and an engaged workforce comprised of talented employees who are dedicated to serving our customers, suppliers and partners. By better aligning these resources with our competitive solutions specialist, embedded and supply chain strengths, Avnet will undoubtedly be positioned to achieve profitable growth for our shareholders and deliver upon the ever growing market potential in our industry.”

Avnet's Business Challenges

Still, the march forward won't be easy. Avnet described its recent ERP project challenges in an August 2016 earnings call with Wall Street. Although the bulk of that effort is now believed to be under control, the distributor must also accelerate its digital transformation strategy -- both internally and as it works to empower channel partners and their customers.

Avnet's most recent quarterly results have been mixed at best, with a few major misses along the way. The broader IT distribution channel has also faced some challenges in recent months. ScanSource recently disclosed weak quarterly results, and Tech Data has also seen some weakness in its mobile business -- though networking and security demand have remained strong.