JD Sports shares slide as finance chief Neil Greenhalgh steps down amid shake-up at the sportswear retailer
Shares in JD Sports tumbled as the shake-up at the top of the retailer continued.
The self-styled ‘King of Trainers’ said finance boss Neil Greenhalgh was stepping down next year.
It follows the exit of former boss Peter Cowgill, who was ousted in May after corporate governance scandals.
Shake-up: Sportswear retailer JD Sports said finance boss Neil Greenhalgh was stepping down next year
The two joined JD in 2004 and were key to its success, turning it from a Manchester high street retailer with annual sales of around £300million to a FTSE 100 giant with annual sales of £8.5billion.
The shares fell 10.3 per cent, or 10.26p, to 89.2p.
Shore Capital retail analyst Eleonora Dani said: ‘After Peter leaving it is not great to see Neil going as well. It was a winning team.
‘Now you have another element of uncertainty around who could be next and how long it will take to find somebody else.’
Greenhalgh had been thinking of leaving for some time. He said his exit would allow a ‘smooth transition’ and promised to help new chief executive Regis Schultz and chairman Andy Higginson settle into their roles.
Schultz joined from Dubai retail conglomerate Al-Futtaim Group in September.
Higginson, who was made chairman in July, was previously chairman of Morrisons before it was sold for £7billion last year.