Boohoo appoints Stephen Morana as CFO as McCabe steps down

Boohoo said on Tuesday that trading remains in line with market expectations as it announced the departure of chief financial officer Shaun McCabe "by mutual agreement" and with immediate effect.

The online fashion retailer said Stephen Morana has been appointed to the board as CFO with effect from 19 February.

Morana is "widely recognised for his e-commerce expertise and he has significant experience in a range of businesses," Boohoo said.

He spent a significant part of his executive career as CFO of two founder-led, digitally disruptive businesses, Betfair and Zoopla, both of which he led through IPO. He has also been a non-executive director at Ladbrokes owner Entain and at Boohoo between 2014 and 2017.

Morana’s most recent executive position was at Cazoo.

Executive chairman Mahmud Kamani said: "Stephen is a highly regarded finance director who is well known to Boohoo, having previously served on our board in a non-executive capacity for four years. He supported us through the IPO process and in our early years as a PLC.

"While the business has grown significantly since then, Stephen has a wealth of experience with global digital businesses and is therefore very well placed to support the strategy in pursuit of our growth ambitions."

Russ Mould, investment director at AJ Bell, said: "There wasn’t too much for investors to chew over in Boohoo’s latest update on trading. There will be some relief the company is on track to hit the downbeat expectations unveiled in October but that is overshadowed by the departure of chief financial officer Shaun McCabe with immediate effect.

"It’s the kind of development which reinforces the impression there’s too much noise around Boohoo, whether it’s ethical questions over its supply chain, sustainability concerns around fast fashion or a boardroom battle with fellow AIM company Revolution Beauty.

"McCabe had only been in the job for a little over a year and to lose a finance chief so rapidly is never a great look, even if Betfair and Zoopla alumni Stephen Morana looks a solid appointment as his replacement.

"The fact Morana has previously served on Boohoo’s board as a non-executive director should mean he has a decent handle on the business too. He rejoins the company at a challenging time. The shares trade at a fraction of their pandemic highs as the whole online fast fashion model, of which it is a leading proponent, comes into question."