Chief Executive Officer Paul Zahra of David Jones Ltd would be quitting his job in Australia's second-biggest listed department store David Jones Ltd. A regulatory filing from the company revealed that Zahra left because of personal reasons. He has been with David Jones since April 1998 and had been at the helm of the company for the past three years. The filing also said Zahra would continue on doing his job until a replacement would be found.
According to Bloomberg, Zahra had tried to enhance the profitability of David Jones despite weak sales. The competition given by online retailers coupled by weakened consumer confidence were among the causes of the 175-year old chain's lackluster performance. Since he took over in June 2010, sales from stores that had been open for at least a year had only risen in three quarters. Yearly revenues had fallen 10%.
Since Zahra because CEO, David Jones stock had fallen 37%. This was a substantial decrease compared to the 21% drop of its rival Myer Holdings, Bloomberg reported.
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