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Thursday, February 10, 2011

Smith & Nephew CEO steps down after strong Q4, (SN), (NYSE: JNJ)

Smith & Nephew (SN.L), Europe's largest artificial knees and hips maker, posted a 9 percent rise in fourth-quarter trading profit on Thursday helped by a strong performance from its knee and trauma units. The company, tipped as a bid target for U.S. rivals Johnson & Johnson (JNJ.N) and Biomet, also said chief executive David Illingworth would retire in April after four years in the role and would be succeeded by Olivier Bohuon from pharmaceutical firm Pierre Fabre. Illingworth, who is 57, said his departure was not linked to recent takeover speculation, nor was he taking another job elsewhere.

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