Why is this ASX retail share suddenly plunging 4% today?

A white candle with a smoking wick symbolising the fall in the Dusk share price today

A white candle with a smoking wick symbolising the fall in the Dusk share price today

It’s been a relatively positive start to this Wednesday’s trading session on the ASX boards. At the time of writing, the All Ordinaries Index (ASX: XAO) is up by a tentative 0.05% at just over 7,700 points. But one ASX retail share that seems to be bucking the broader market is Dusk Group Ltd (ASX: DSK).

Dusk shares aren’t having a great time of it today. While the All Ords is in positive territory, the Dusk share price has plunged by 2.9% at the time of writing to $2.01 a share. That’s after closing at $2.07 yesterday.

It was even worse for Dusk this morning too. Just after market open, the candle and fragrance company fell as low as $1.98 a share. That was a fall of around 4% at the time.

So what’s going on with Dusk today that has elicited this market-bucking fall?

King cashes out

Well, it could have something to do with the ASX announcement Dusk released to the markets before the opening bell this morning.

This ASX release announced the resignation of Dusk’s long-term CEO Peter King. King has been CEO of Dusk since 2014 but will step down from the role in August this year. A successor has not yet been chosen. But Dusk has declared that “a search will now commence for a new CEO”.

Here’s some of what the now-outgoing CEO had to say about his departure:

Having just completed my ninth Christmas as CEO of dusk, I believe now is the right time for someone else to take the Company forward. I would like to acknowledge the hard work of our executive team and thank the Board for their support and guidance.

Dusk’s culture is deeply rooted in our commitment to delight our customers with affordable everyday luxury. I am focused on closing out FY23 strongly and will work closely with the Board to identify an outstanding future leader for the Company.

Chair John Joyce added the following:

The Board would like to thank Peter for the invaluable contribution he has made since 2014. The Company has been transformed under his leadership. Peter has built an outstanding executive team, dramatically grown our revenues and earnings, driven the omni–channel transformation strategy, and led the IPO in 2020. He will leave the business in excellent shape.

Peter is a ‘team and Company first’ leader. Consistent with this approach, Peter will continue to lead dusk through to mid–2023. Peter plans to do a fulsome handover to a new CEO when identified…

Dusk is scheduled to provide its earnings report for the first half of FY2023 next month on 24 February. The company has stated that investors will be updated on the search for a new Dusk CEO when these earnings are released.

Dusk share price snapshot

As the company alluded to in its announcement today, Dusk is an ASX retail share that has been listed since it first IPOed in November 2020. The company reached a share price high of over $4 back in mid-2021. But Dusk has fallen significantly since then.

Today, Dusk is going for $2 a share, and remains up by around 18% since its IPO:

At the current Dusk share price, this ASX retail share has a market capitalisation of $124.5 million, with a trailing dividend yield of 10%.

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Motley Fool contributor Sebastian Bowen has positions in Dusk Group. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Dusk Group. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.