PNG hires Barclays analyst as CFO

Penn National Gaming (PNG) CFO David Williams has stepped down a year after being hired from Apple.

Williams will be replaced by MD and equity research analyst for Barclays, Felicia Hendrix, as she takes on CFO and EVP roles.

Williams will stay on in a temporary advisory role to ensure a smooth transition.

“To say my relatively brief tenure at Penn National was a rollercoaster ride would be an understatement,” Williams said of his time at PNG.

“We went from the excitement of announcing our new partnership with Barstool Sports to the temporary shutdown of all of our operating assets in my first two months on the job,” he added.

“I am very proud of the way our company responded to the unprecedented challenges the pandemic presented, and the role I played in helping to raise more than $1bn in new equity to be able to weather the storm.”

Hendrix joins the operator after 12 years with Barclays covering gaming and leisure.

Prior to that, she spent 10 years as managing director for equity research on gaming at the now defunct investment bank Lehman Brothers.

CEO Jay Snowden said: “Fortunately, we have someone of Felicia’s caliber and exhaustive experience on Wall Street as an equity research analyst – who happens to have covered Penn for the last two decades – to step in as our new CFO.

“I have long admired Felicia and her deep knowledge of the gaming industry, impressive work ethic, sharp wit and attention to detail,” Snowden added.