Signage outdoors a Bed Bath & Beyond retail retailer in New York, Aug. 25, 2022.
Gabby Jones | Bloomberg | Getty Images
Bed Bath & Beyond on Sunday stated its chief monetary officer, Gustavo Arnal, died Friday, after police had stated earlier that Arnal fell to his loss of life.
The New York City medical expert’s workplace stated Sunday evening the manager died from a number of blunt trauma and that he had taken his personal life. Arnal left no be aware behind and didn’t say something to his spouse, who was house on the time, sources informed WNBC.
“The whole Bed Bath & Beyond Inc. group is profoundly saddened by this stunning loss,” the corporate stated in a press release.
Arnal, 52, fell Friday afternoon from a constructing in downtown Manhattan, in line with police. The iconic skyscraper, recognized regionally because the “Jenga Tower” or the “Jenga Building,” has greater than 50 flooring of uniquely stacked flats.
Emergency Medical Services declared Arnal deceased on the scene, in line with a spokesperson from New York’s Office of the Deputy Commissioner, the general public info workplace for the town’s police division.
Arnal joined Bed Bath in 2020 from London-based cosmetics firm Avon, simply after the beginning of the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic. He additionally spent 20 years at Procter & Gamble. In Bed Bath’s assertion on Sunday, the corporate famous that Arnal “was instrumental in guiding the group all through the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic.”
Since becoming a member of Bed Bath, Arnal made a number of purchases and gross sales of firm inventory. Last month, he bought greater than 55,000 shares at costs starting from $20 per share to $29.95 per share, for a complete $1.23 million, in line with a submitting. Those gross sales have been made as a part of a buying and selling plan he had signed in April. The doc additionally famous he nonetheless held 255,396 shares after these newest gross sales.
Bed Bath’s current struggles
Bed Bath’s inventory is down 43% this yr — and about 90% from its all-time excessive.
Arnal died two days after the corporate introduced plans to shut 150 shops of its “decrease producing” namesake shops. The New Jersey-based retailer additionally stated it might be chopping 20% of its workers and added that it had secured greater than $500 million in new financing, together with a mortgage.
The cost-cutting measures come as Bed Bath’s core enterprise continues to wrestle. The firm disclosed persevering with slowing gross sales on Wednesday, with same-store gross sales dropping 26% for the three-month window ended Aug. 27 — a much bigger drop than in earlier quarters.
Some analysts say that whereas the turnaround plan introduced Wednesday will enhance the corporate’s liquidity place, it will not be adequate to avoid wasting Bed Bath’s enterprise. Raymond James downgraded the inventory Thursday, saying that the fee cuts and new financing “solely kicks the can down the street.”
Bed Bath is without doubt one of the public firms swept up within the so-called “meme commerce,” which sees shares expertise wild worth swings primarily based on social media hype amongst retail buyers. In August, Bed Bath had a number of days with worth strikes of greater than 20%.
In mid-August, activist investor Ryan Cohen, a significant Bed Bath shareholder, exited his place. Cohen’s RC Ventures bought its Bed Bath holdings at a variety of costs between $18.68 per share and $29.22 per share. After the sale, the inventory plummeted 40%.
Bed Bath additionally faces a category motion lawsuit just lately filed within the District of Columbia, accusing it of misrepresenting its worth and profitability. Arnal is called within the go well with, as is Cohen.
Bed Bath informed CNBC that it might not touch upon litigation. In an SEC submitting from Aug. 31, the corporate famous that it was “evaluating the grievance” however that primarily based on present data, it believed the claims have been “with out advantage.”
If you might be having suicidal ideas, contact the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline at 988 for help and help from a skilled counselor.
— Additional reporting by CNBC’s Dan Mangan.