The Warehouse has confirmed that it is on a hunt for a new chief executive but denies it has anything to do with the company’s poor November and December trading results.
Chairman Keith Smith said in a statement that Ian Morrice will be retiring from the position but no decision on timing or succession has been made.
“The Board is comfortable with Ian’s performance and has not met to discuss this with reference to recent trading result,” he said.
“Whilst the company is disappointed in the December/New Year trading results… these results must be assessed in the context of the very difficult trading conditions for retailers generally over this period.”
Smith also noted that New Zealand’s electronic card transaction data was down by 1.6 per cent in December as evidence that The Warehouse wasn’t the only retailer that suffered tough trading conditions.