Asos shares slip after top exec announces departure
Asos shares were down over ten per cent this afternoon after another top executive Mat Dunn said he would be stepping back from the company.
The retailer’s board said it had agreed that Mat Dunn, Chief Operating Officer and Chief Financial Officer, would leave his roles as the firm faces a tide of executive departures.
Dunn will continue in his role and as a member of the board until at least 31 October and will remain employed until the end of the year to provide transitional support.
He first joined the board in April 2019 as CFO before taking on the additional role of COO in October 2021.
ASOS Chairman Jørgen Lindemann said: “I would like to thank Mat for the enormous contribution he has made to ASOS over the past three years, and in particular during his time as interim CEO.”
Meanwhile, Dunn said: “I have very much enjoyed my time at ASOS. We have achieved a lot over the last three years and the business is stronger as a result and I am sure will go on to great success.”
A process is underway to appoint a new CFO for the firm.
Nonetheless, the company’s leadership turbulence has been an ongoing trend for the fast fashion favourite in recent times.
Asos chair Ian Dyson and chief exec Nick Beighton both stepped down this year following poor performance on the stock market and supply chain woes.
José Antonio Ramos Calamonte, whose CV boasts roles such as a former executive at Zara-owner Inditex and top boss at apparel firm Salsa Jeans, has since taken over as CEO: inheriting a rocky economic landscape and bumpy market for fashion.
Having fallen victim of tightening household budgets, Asos issued a shock profit warning back in June, stating that inflationary pressures and the war in Ukraine had started to chip away at profits.
Gen Z’s go-to shopping spot lowered forecasts for the year, with sales anticipated to be in the range of four per cent and seven per cent, which it put down to “market volatility and an increased returns rate.”
Profit before tax was expected to be a range of between £20m and £60m, after the retailer revised its guidance.