Bubs Australia, the infant-formula and baby-food maker, has axed its CEO Kristy Carr with immediate effect for failing to comply with “reasonable board directions”.
The publicly-listed business announced the departure of its founder in a stock-exchange filing today (10 May) having started a strategic review two weeks ago.
The company reported the non-executive directors had decided to make a leadership change and alter the “governance framework of the company to ensure that it aligns with ASX Corporate Governance Principles and best practice”.
Bubs also revealed that Dennis Lin, who stepped down from the role of executive chairman at the Sydney-based company last month, has been terminated from the company. He had been working with the Bubs board for a transition period.
Katrina Rathie, who took up the role of chair after Lin’s departure from the company early last month, thanked Carr for her 18 years at the company.
“We acknowledge Kristy’s long service to Bubs and the role she has played in building the Bubs brand to the position it enjoys today.”
Richard Paine, COO at Bubs, will act as interim CEO until a permanent replacement is found for the position.
The statement added: “The board thanks Richard Paine for his continued strong performance as Bubs’ interim CEO. In support of Richard and the Bubs executive team, the board will lean in to contribute its strong commercial, FMCG, dairy and international markets expertise to drive Bubs’ strategy forward in Australia, [the] USA, China and international markets.
“The board is fortunate to have strong capability and skills to help assist in the strategic review and we will update the market on the outcomes of the strategic review and the future leadership of Bubs in due course.”
In February, Bubs reported a statutory EBITDA loss of A$42m ($27.7m) for the six months to 31 December, compared to a A$1.2m profit a year earlier. The underlying EBITDA loss was A$22m versus A$1.2m.
Last month, alongside the announcement of the strategic review, the baby-food business revealed its gross revenue in the third quarter of its financial year fell 10%.
Bubs said the strategic review is expected to finish by 30 June.
