Google Inc said on Tuesday its chief financial officer (CFO) Patrick Pichette has announced his intention to retire, marking the latest change to the internet company's upper ranks.

Google expects to find a replacement for Mr Pichette within six months, the company said in a regulatory filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission.

The effective date of Mr Pichette’s retirement has not been determined but Google said he intends to assist in the search for a new CFO.

The world’s No 1 internet search company has gone through a string of changes to the senior management.

Google has a market valuation of roughly $380 billion (€355.8 billion) and analysts expect the company to generate $76 billion in revenue this year.

Shares of Google, which finished Tuesday’s regular trading session down 2.4 per cent at $555.01, were down 15 cents in after-hours trading.

A former telecom industry executive, Mr Pichette joined Google in 2008.

Last year, Google chief business officer Nikesh Arora departed unexpectedly to become vice chairman of Japan's SoftBank Corp and was replaced by longtime Google executive Omid Kordestani. Vic Gundotra, the head of Google's social networking services, left in April 2014.

Reuters