Lindsey Rupp and Lauren Coleman-Lochner (c) 2014, Bloomberg News.
NEW YORK — RadioShack Corp. Chief Financial Officer John Feray has resigned after less than a year on the job, prompting the struggling electronics retailer to bring back Holly Etlin as interim CFO.
Etlin, a 57-year-old managing director at advisory firm AlixPartners, previously was Fort Worth, Texas-based RadioShack’s interim CFO from July 2013 to February 2014, according to a statement Monday. She has also served as a member of the American Bankruptcy Institute and the Association of Insolvency & Restructuring Advisors. Feray stepped down on Sept. 12 for personal reasons, the retailer said.
RadioShack, after posting another quarter of mounting losses and plunging sales, said last week that it’s working with creditors and other parties to get more capital in a bid to avoid bankruptcy. The retailer brought Etlin in because the Securities and Exchange Commission requires public companies to have a CFO, said Michael Pachter, an analyst with Wedbush Securities,
“They aren’t going to be a public company for long,” said Pachter. “If they don’t get financing in the very near term, they’re going to be compelled to file for bankruptcy.”
The retailer is in advanced discussions about ways to shore up its balance sheet, including debt restructuring, a plan to consolidate stores and other measures, it said in statement on Sept. 11.
Chief Executive Officer Joe Magnacca has been working to revamp stores and merchandise as the company tries to compete with Amazon.com and Wal-Mart Stores. Still, comparable- store sales, considered a key gauge of performance, fell about 20 percent last quarter. The 93-year-old company, once seen as a hub for must-have gadgets and electronics, has only reported one quarter of positive same-store sales in the past three years.
RadioShack posted a second-quarter net loss last week of $137.4 million, or $1.35 a share, compared with a deficit of $52.2 million, or 51 cents, a year ago. Excluding some items, the loss amounted to $1 a share in the period, which ended Aug. 2. Analysts had estimated a loss of 66 cents on average, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Revenue fell 22 percent to $673.8 million, dragging down by slumping sales of mobile phones.
Before joining RadioShack, Feray had served as senior vice president of finance and strategy at Dollar General Corp. since 2008. He helped shepherd its initial public offering the following year after the retailer was taken private by KKR & Co. in 2007.