Neiman Marcus CEO Karen Katz to step down

By

Benjamin Fitzgerald

Published
Jan 5, 2018

Neiman Marcus is reportedly on the hunt to replace its current CEO Karen Katz, sources close to the matter told US media on Thursday. ​

According to the Wall Street Journal, Katz will relinquish her chief executive role at the retailer, but will retain her board seat. She has served as Neiman Marcus' CEO since 2010.

Sources told the WSJ that the US luxury department store is now looking outside the company for her successor, but no timeframe has been given on the reappointment.

When approached by media, Neiman Marcus declined to comment on the rumours.

The Dallas-based group, which owns MyTheresa.com and Bergdorf Goodman, has been struggling since 2013, after Ares and Canadian public pension fund CPPIB acquired it from other private equity firms, and left it with a nearly $5 billion debt load. 

In March last year, the embattled retailer entered into talks with Hudson's Bay Co. for a potential buyout - full or partial, but the Canadian retailer turned away from any deal three months in, due to Neiman's high debt load.

As well as selling, Neiman has also explored options to change its capital structure, but backed out of a restructure plan as its debt weight made any acquisition hard to structure.

The firm's most recently financial quarterly result saw losses widen to $26.2 million from $23.5 million over the same period last year, as debt and previously accrued losses continued to weigh on the business.

However, Neiman Marcus recorded a 4.2% rise in comparable revenue in the first quarter of 2018, which it attributed to its ‘digital first' strategy and new technology investments.

Quarterly revenue rose to $1.12 billion, up 3.8% from $1.08 billion a year ago, said the firm.