SuperDry PLC (LON:SDRY) has appointed Nick Gresham as its interim chief financial officer, two months after the return of founder Julian Dunkerton led to the resignation of most of the board.
Gresham, who is the CFO of cycling retailer Wiggle and has previously worked in finance roles at Debenhams, Home Retail Group and Homebase, will take over the role from Ed Barker on June 3.
READ: Superdry warns on profits as returning boss says it “will take time” for turnaround plan to bear fruit
“This is an important step for Superdry as we continue to focus on rebuilding the board and putting the right leadership and corporate governance structure in place,” new chairman Peter Williams said in a statement.
Most of Superdry’s board, including Barker, chief executive Euan Sutherland and chairman Peter Bamford, stepped down in April after shareholders backed Dunkerton’s bid to return to the helm of the retailer to turn around the business after sluggish sales.
Dunkerton is currently interim chief executive of the company until it finds a permanent replacement for Sutherland.
In April, Superdry appointed Boohoo chairman and industry veteran Peter Williams as chairman to replace Bamford.
Liberum analysts raised their recommendation on Superdry to ‘buy’ from ‘hold’ and lifted its target price on the shares to 600p from 500p.
“It will take time to restore SuperDry to being the design led business we all know it can be, but we are impressed by how swiftly decisions are being made,” they said.
“The appointment of an interim CFO will allow Julian Dunkerton more time to focus on brand and product.”
The analysts think there are likely to be more hires over the next year.
In morning trading, shares jumped 7.2% to 496p each.