Bubs CFO Iris Ren quits Bubs, citing ‘domestic reasons’ - two weeks after Kristy Carr’s sacking

Executive ranks at the infant formula company Bubs have been further cleaned out with the resignation of its chief financial officer Iris Ren, just weeks after CEO Kristy Carr was sacked.

Bubs former chief executive Kristy Carr was sacked earlier this month amid a boardroom drama. Picture: John Feder

Bubs has lost its chief financial officer Iris Ren who has resigned from the company for “domestic reasons”, further clearing the executive ranks at the goat milk-focused infant formula outfit.

The company announced Ms Ren’s departure on Wednesday - two weeks after its board terminated its chief executive and founder Kristy Carr and demoted its executive chairman Dennis Lin.

A boardroom drama erupted when Ms Carr was accused of not following reasonable board directives while she was on leave. It is understood she had contacted shareholders and supplies following Mr Lin’s demotion last month as relations between her and the board deteriorated rapidly.

Bubs shares plunged 5 per cent to 19c on Wednesday. This compared to a 0.6 per cent fall across the broader sharemarket. In the past 12 month the company’s share price has more than halved.

Bubs former chief financial officer Iris Ren.

Bubs has appointed Robin Johnston as interim chief financial officer - who has previously worked at Forty Winks, Dindas and Metcash, and quickly updated his profile on Linkedin to reflect his new role at Bubs.

Interim chief executive Richard Paine said Mr Johnston would work with Ms Ren to ensure a “smooth transition” of her duties.

“We are fortunate to have secured an interim CFO of Robin’s calibre who can work with Iris to ensure a smooth transition of the financial function and support our business growth,” Mr Paine said.

“We thank Iris for her service to the company and wish her well in her future endeavours.”

It comes as Jackie Lin has been seconded from Alibaba-backed private equity firm C2 Capital, which also owns more than 10 per cent of Bubs.

Some shareholders say his appointment is a clear conflict of interest and at worst represents the start of a potential takeover by stealth from C2 Capital and Alibaba, without Bubs paying shareholders a premium - an accusation Bubs has rejected.

The Australian revealed earlier this month that three senior employees at Bubs’s China office had been sacked as a result of Jackie Lin’s review.

Under Ms Carr and Dennis Lin’s leadership, Bubs was pursuing an omnichannel approach, including producing infant formula in China to gain access to bricks and mortar outlets — such as mother and baby stores — which represent about 80 per cent of the country’s $40bn infant formula market, and compete with online retailers such as Alibaba.

But Bubs’s latest quarterly earnings were awash with red ink. Revenue had dived 10 per cent to $15.8m — and its China sales plunged 56 per cent, with “significant amounts of finished goods inventory held in trade”.

Group expenses meanwhile leapt 74 per cent in the three months to March 31, compared with the same quarter in 2022, but had fallen 10 per cent from the December quarter.

It represents a stunning turnaround for Bubs, which 12 months ago was the toast of Australia after it became one of the first companies to receive approval from the US Food and Drug Administration to import infant formula to help alleviate America’s nationwide baby food shortage.

Ms Carr even joined a video call with US President Joe Biden, who heaped praise on the company.

New Bubs chair Katrina Rathie said Ms Rathie said last month: “Expenditure management is an immediate focus of the board, and a strategic review of the global business has commenced”.