DavidsTea losing another top executive, months after the arrival of new CEO

MONTREAL – DavidsTea is losing another senior executive as its chief financial officer leaves the specialty tea retailer in July, four months following the arrival of new CEO Joel Silver.

The Montreal-based company says CFO Luis Borgen will depart after five years including its move to become public two years ago.

DavidsTea (Nasdaq:DTEA) says it swung to a $400,000 loss in the first quarter from a $1.5-million profit a year ago.

Sales grew 9.4 per cent to $48.7 million but comparable sales for stores open at least a year — a key retail metric — decreased 5.7 per cent.

Excluding one-time items, the adjusted loss was $1.1 million or four cents per share, two cents better than forecasts by analysts polled by Thomson Reuters.

That compared to profits of $1.5 million or six cents per share a year earlier.