Marka CEO resigns amid retailer’s crisis
Shares in the retailer have lost 90% of their value this year, with trading suspended as of date
The CEO of retail and dining operator Marka has resigned, according to a company statement on the Dubai Financial Market (DFM) website.
Marka, which became Dubai’s first publicly traded retailer in 2014, has seen its share price drop by 90 per cent since the beginning of this year. Benoit Lamonerie, the outgoing chief executive, resigned last Thursday. “[Lamonerie] has resigned from his position as Group CEO for personal reasons and is no longer working for Marka,” the statement said.
Until a replacement was appointed, the management of the company would continue under the supervision of the board of directors.
The company spent five months last year without a top executive at the helm, ending its search in May 2017 when it appointed Lamonerie.
He replaced Nick Peel, who resigned in December 2016.
Marka has posted consecutive quarterly losses since it went public in 2014, most recently announcing it would reduce its capital from Dh500 million to Dh49.87 million in an attempt to extinguish Dh450 million of accumulated losses.
In July, it said that trading of its shares would be suspended until at least September 4. As of December 16, trading remains suspended.
PwC, the company’s auditory, expressed concern on Marka’s quarterly financial statement earlier this year over the retailer’s inability to continue operating in light of the fact that its liabilities exceed its current assets.
Marka has also defaulted on certain bank borrowings, the auditor said. In 2017, the company embarked on a major cost-cutting programme, reducing 75 per cent of its general expenses between the second and third quarters.