UPDATE 2-UK online retailer Boohoo names Stephen Morana as new CFO
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Previous CFO McCabe quits with immediate effect
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Morana to start on Feb. 19
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Boohoo says trading in line with forecasts
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By Sarah Young
LONDON, Jan 23 (Reuters) - British online retailer Boohoo named former Betfair and Zoopla finance boss Stephen Morana as its new chief financial officer after previous CFO Shaun McCabe left on Tuesday.
Boohoo said McCabe's departure was "by mutual agreement and with immediate effect".
The company, whose brands PrettyLittleThing and Nasty Gal are popular with under 30s, said Morana, a board member at Boohoo between 2014-2017, would start his new role on Feb. 19.
It said its trading remained in line with market expectations. Shares in the company opened down 0.5% on Tuesday at 34 pence.
Morana will join Boohoo as it battles to return to growth after a year when it has been hit hard by supply chain issues, higher product returns, competition from rivals like Shein and a rise in living costs which has squeezed consumer incomes.
Its shares have lost 25% of their value over the last year, and the group warned in October that its annual revenue in the 12 months to the end of February 2024 would drop by 12% to 17%, more than forecast.
Boohoo's executive chairman and co-founder Mahmud Kamani, who owns 12% of the company, said Morana's experience at founder-led digital businesses would be beneficial.
"Stephen is a highly regarded finance director who is well known to Boohoo," Kamani said in a statement.
"(He) has a wealth of experience with global digital businesses and is therefore very well placed to support the strategy in pursuit of our growth ambitions."
Boohoo has also in recent months come under pressure from a series of BBC investigations.
In November, it defended its treatment of suppliers, while more recently the BBC alleged that Boohoo clothes made in South Asia had new "Made in the UK" labels sewn into them.
In 2020, Boohoo accepted all the recommendations of an independent review that found major failings in its supply chain in England after newspaper allegations about working conditions and low pay in factories in the Leicester area. (Reporting by Sarah Young; Editing by Paul Sandle and Jan Harvey)
