Bupa CEO steps down amindst stumbling company growth

London: British private healthcare firm Bupa's Chief Executive Stuart Fletcher is stepping down amid stumbling growth at the company, it said on Thursday.

Chief financial officer Evelyn Bourke will be appointed as acting chief executive and the board will conduct an internal and external search for a successor "in due course", Bupa said in a statement.

"Current growth plans do not match our expectations, and so we have agreed that the time is right for (Fletcher) to step down," Bupa Chairman Alexander Leitch said.

Bupa gets around 70 percent of its revenue from health insurance but also operates hospitals, care homes and medical clinics in many of its businesses around the world.

Political change in Spain, wage rises in Britain and an economic slowdown in Australia have put pressure on healthcare markets, Fletcher said earlier this month, as Bupa posted a 2 percent drop in 2015 underlying pretax profit. (Reporting by Carolyn Cohn; editing by Simon Jessop)