COO post to boost growth

FASHION retailer Truworths International has created a chief operating officer (COO) position to boost retail sales growth at home and in the UK, where consumer spending remains under pressure and online competition is growing. Truworths made the announcement of the new role yesterday after reporting a 7.3 percent fall in annual profit, sending its shares more than 4 percent higher. The profit decline was in line with analyst estimates. Chief financial officer (CFO) David Pfaff, 53, was appointed to the new COO position responsible for retail store operations and will also continue his role as CFO. Truworths said that its diluted headline earnings per share for the 52 weeks to July 1 declined to 612.7 cents compared to the 53-week prior period.