The announcement came as a surprise,given the company said in May that Nash would only step down from the role he had held at the group since 2004 once a new chief executive had been appointed. Nash had intended to stay on in an executive role overseeing the group’s strategy.
The change of tack for Booktopia followedan investigation byThe Age andSydney Morning Herald into the group’s troubled 18 months as a listed company and how the company fell out of favour with investors,who have wiped more than $400 million off the group’s market capitalisation in recent months.
The investigation also revealed that Booktopia had been quietly laying off staff after being unable to keep up with rosy forecasts made due to a downturn in online spending following the relaxation of pandemic restrictions.
Booktopia’s shares fell 5 per cent to 31¢ following the announcement of Nash’s departure from the group’s executive ranks,giving it a market cap of $44 million.
“The company has just completed an internal business review focussed on,amongst other things,its overall strategy,efficiency and cost structure. As part of this process,the board has determined that retaining Tony Nash as the chief growth officer,whilst at the same time appointing a new CEO was not in the best interests of the business going forward,” the company said in a statement.
“Accordingly,the board has given Tony notice to step away from executive management of the company in order to enable a new CEO to enter with a fresh start on well laid foundations.”
The company intends to keep Nash on as a director. He retains a 14 per cent stake in Booktopia.