The Warehouse chief executive Greg Muir resigns

6.00pm

The chief executive of New Zealand retail giant The Warehouse, Greg Muir, has resigned over differences with the board about the company's direction.

The Warehouse founder and former chief executive Stephen Tindall will step in as a temporary replacement until a new chief executive is found.

Mr Muir will leave on July 31. He told NZPA he would not give further details about what the disagreement encompassed.

"It was not about the strategy but just the way that we were doing things, and Stephen (Tindall) and the board and I had different views.... I don't think that it is desperately serious -- we had differences and I think one of the good things about the commercial world... is sometimes that you realise the mature and appropriate thing is just to move on and part amicably.

"I still feel very positively towards the company and towards Stephen and Keith (Smith, chairman), I don't have any negativity or angst in that space...."

Despite the lack of acrimony the parties could not resolve their differences, he said.

"When you have differences, throwing pans against the wall isn't a particularly good way of handling it. We've spent several months working through some of these things, and we've both come to the view that we're not aligned so we should move on."

He said management's views on the Australian businesses were "highly aligned and we all feel that that business still has a very good future".

"We've clearly had a few hiccups along the way but we think we're getting on top of those, trading recently has been very positive and so no, nothing to do with Australia."

Australian businesses Silly Solly's and Clint's Crazy Bargains account for about one-third of the group's turnover and have met far more competition than The Warehouse's New Zealand stores.

Poor promotion of key merchandise at the "yellow sheds" across the Tasman will see the division book an operating loss for the July year.

Mr Muir said he was not sure what his future held after The Warehouse, but he may take some time out to play golf.

"I've had a great time there, really enjoyable, we've built a wonderful team to take over from the team Stephen had there when I moved in, and I just look back with a lot of pride and a real sense of accomplishment."

The Warehouse shares closed down 15c at $4.30, although the announcement was released after the market's 4pm close.

Mr Smith said the company accepted Mr Muir's resignation with regret.

"During Mr Muir's four years with The Warehouse Group the company grew from an $800 million business to a $2 billion business," he said.

Mr Muir took over the top job in January 2001, having been handpicked by Mr Tindall from his former position as chief executive for Blue Star Business Supplies in Australia and New Zealand.

He was no stranger to the job, having been groomed to be chief executive for two years. Mr Muir said at the time that Mr Tindall had wanted such a long handover period because he was seeking someone sympathetic to the culture and values of The Warehouse.

The discount chain has expanded from a single store in Auckland in the 1980s to most medium to large towns and cities across New Zealand.

The company listed on the stock exchange in 1994.

It has issued two profit warnings so far this year, with the latest on May 2 forecasting after-tax earnings for the year to July to clock in between $73 million and $80 million, compared with an earlier estimate of $90 million to $95 million.

- NZPA