Temple & Webster Group Ltd (ASX: TPW) shares are on the slide on Thursday.
In morning trade, the ASX 200 stock is down 15% to $5.61.
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Why is this ASX 200 stock sinking?
Investors have been selling the online furniture retailer's shares after it announced a change of leadership.
According to the release, Temple & Webster's co-founder and CEO, Mark Coulter, will transition to the role of executive chair on 1 July.
The ASX 200 stock revealed that Coulter will be replaced by Susie Sugden, who will be appointed as the company's next CEO from the same day.
The good news is that Sugden is very familiar with the company. She previously held the roles of chief commercial officer and chief marketing officer between 2016 and 2020 and was "instrumental in the company's growth into one of Australia's leading online retailers."
In addition, Sugden is an experienced CEO and operator with a strong track record of building and scaling global consumer and ecommerce businesses.
She is currently a managing director at Genesis Capital, which is a leading Australian private equity firm, where she is responsible for portfolio oversight, mergers & acquisitions, and operational performance across a range of businesses.
Prior to that, Sugden was CEO of Love To Dream, which is a global sleepwear brand operating in more than 40 countries. During her tenure, she scaled the business into a fully integrated global wholesale and direct-to-consumer model, and expanded operations across North America, Europe and Asia.
Management commentary
Commenting on his transition to an executive chair role, Mark Coulter said:
I am so proud of everything we have achieved at Temple & Webster. We have navigated the early start-up years, public market turbulence, global pandemics and cost of living crises, to firmly become one of the most successful e-commerce businesses in Australia. We have built an incredible platform – a team, brand, customer base and operating business that has so much potential. Now is the time to take that incredible platform to the next level.
Bringing back Susie – a proven former executive at Temple & Webster, will provide me with more capacity to focus on strategy and longer-term growth opportunities, which will only become more important as we scale. I look forward to working closely with Susie as we continue our journey to become the largest retailer of furniture and homewares in Australia.
Sugden appears up for the challenge of running the ASX 200 stock. She said:
I am thrilled to return to Temple & Webster and to lead the business through its next chapter of growth. My focus will be on driving operational excellence and continuing to scale the business to meet the evolving needs of our customers. I look forward to working with Mark once again and leading this incredible team to deliver sustained, long-term growth.
