Pumpkin Patch CFO Steve Mackay departs after less than a year with the ailing retailer

Pumpkin Patch says earnings for the 2016 year will be "significantly' below that forecast for 2015. Photo / NZ Herald

Pumpkin Patch chief financial officer Steve Mackay will leave after less than 12 months with the children's wear chain, following former boss Di Humphries out the door.

Mackay will leave the company at the end of September "to focus on private business interests," Pumpkin Patch said in a statement.

He joined the retailer in September last year from Ezibuy. His exit marks a change at the top of Pumpkin Patch's management, with chief executive Humphries leaving after two years in charge of the ailing retailer.

Former Warehouse Group CFO Luke Bunt, who sits on the Pumpkin Patch board, was named managing director last month, assuming control on August 3.

Pumpkin Patch will update the market on the CFO role in the next few weeks, it said.

Last month, the retailer affirmed expectations for normalised earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation to be about $14 million in the year ended July 31, in line with earnings a year earlier, which it said would lead to a "modest" after-tax loss.

Pumpkin Patch has struggled to remain relevant in a changing retail environment, and recently reviewed its options after receiving offers to buy or refinance the business, and in June, the board decided against accepting any offers, which it didn't see as compelling enough to accept.

The shares fell 1.2 per cent to 16.5 cents, and have dropped 24 per cent this year.