Post date: Apr 10, 2012 8:4:57 PM
Best Buy CEO Brian Dunn steps down as head of the company after watching profits, sales, and the stock price languish under his 2-1/2 year tenure.
USA-BEST BUY CEO - Best Buy Chief Executive Officer Brian Dunn is now a casualty of the retailer's slow and steady decline.
He stepped down Tuesday as CEO of the world's largest electronics chain, faced with falling profits and lackluster sales as its big-box stores lose out to online rivals like Amazon.
Dunn became CEO in June 2009, the fiscal year before that, sales were $45 billion, growing to $50.7 billion by the end of the fiscal year ended this March.
But that small rise came with big discounts, which ate up earnings.
Annual net profit was $1 billion in fiscal year 2009, climbed to $1.3 billion during Dunn's first months as CEO, but plummeted to a net loss of $1.2 billion last fiscal year.
Meantime, the stock has shed one-third of is value during his tenure. Closing at $34 a share the week before Dunn became CEO, shares are $21 on his way out.
The next leader has to implement a plan to cut 50 big stores and let go of 400 employees and find a way to get consumers to buy more merchandise without sacrificing profits.
Conway Gittens, Reuters