Further shaking up the RadioShack’s top management ranks, CFO and executive vice president David Barnes will leave the struggling electronics
retailer to join Western Union, a division of First Data Corp.
Barnes’ resignation—about 15 months after he joined the
company—comes just several weeks after Julian Day took
over as chairman and chief executive officer. Day joined the company in February to replace David Edmondson, who resigned after admitting that he lied about his
academic background on his resume, Reuters noted.
The management shakeup could create difficulties in terms of Sarbanes-Oxley compliance. When RadioShack files its 2006 annual report in about eight months, the two individuals required to certify the results—the CEO and CFO—will have been on the job for no more than half the fiscal year.
That raises questions concerning how much they will be
up to speed on RadioShack’s inner workings and whether they’ll be able to comfortably avow the numbers after such a short period of time on the job.
Other changes have been afoot at the company. Late last week, Day, who will oversee all finance functions until a replacement for Barnes is found, ended the practice of holding investor conference calls after the release of each quarter’s financial results. Instead, the company will issue a comprehensive
press release describing the prior quarter’s business performance.
“Providing shareholders clear[ly] written descriptions of business issues and performance is crucially important,” said Day. “At the same time, RadioShack management is wholly focused on improving operations and building value for
shareholders and believes this approach best serves
both goals.”