Justin Sullivan Getty Images Bed Bath & Beyond announced Wednesday that it is replacing CEO Mark Tritton as part of a leadership restructuring after the retailer’s sales plummeted and it lost much of Wall Street expectations for quarterly earnings and revenue. Shares fell about 13% in preliminary trading. Sue Gove, an independent director on the board, will serve as interim chief executive, the company’s board said. He said he would focus on reversing recent results, tackling supply chain and inventory issues and strengthening the company’s balance sheet. “We have to offer improved results,” Gove said in a statement. “Our shareholders, partners, customers and partners expect more.” The company will also acquire a new chief merchandising officer. Mara Sirhal, who recently served as general manager of health, beauty and consumables, will replace Joe Hartsig, who is leaving the company. See how the retailer did in the quarter ended May 28 compared to what analysts expected, based on Refinitiv data:
Loss per share: $ 2.83 versus $ 1.39 is expected Revenue: $ 1.46 billion versus $ 1.51 billion expected
The company’s net loss widened to $ 358 million, or $ 4.49 a share, from $ 51 million, or 48 cents a share, a year earlier. On an adjusted basis, the company had a net loss of $ 2.83 per share. That was more than the $ 1.39 analysts had expected, according to Refinitiv. Sales fell to $ 1.46 billion from $ 1.95 billion a year earlier. Wall Street was expecting $ 1.51 billion in sales. Sales at the same stores, a key retail measure, fell 24% in the quarter from a year earlier, worse than the 20.1% drop analysts had expected, according to StreetAccount. Its online sales decreased by 21% on an annual basis. This included a 27% drop for the Bed Bath & Beyond banner and a medium single digit drop for the Buybuy Baby banner. Bed Bath is under pressure from investor activist Ryan Cohen, president of GameStop and founder of Chewy. Earlier this year, Cohen’s company, RC Ventures, revealed a 10% stake in the company. Cohen called for sweeping changes, criticized the high salaries of top executives and urged the sale or spin-off of the company’s baby tool chain, Buybuy Baby. Beth Bath and Cohen agreed to a truce in late March. The retailer has agreed to add new independent directors to its board and consider alternatives to the Buybuy Baby chain. But the challenges for the home appliance retailer are not over. The company’s shares have fallen 55% so far this year and reached a new low of 52 weeks earlier this month. Shares of the company closed at $ 6.53 on Tuesday, falling more than 3%. Bed Bath said it had hired retail consulting firm Berkeley Research Group to review its stock and balance sheet. He also hired the national search company, Russell Reynolds, to look for a permanent CEO. Read the company’s profit announcement here. This story is evolving. Check again for updates.
