Dive Brief:
- Papa Johns CFO Ann Gugino resigned from her position effective Wednesday, the company said in an SEC filing. She will remain with the company through May 31 to help through the transition of her responsibilities.
- Gugino has been CFO at Papa Johns since October 2020, according to her LinkedIn profile. She had held various financial positions over the last two decades, including a stint as SVP, financial planning and analysis at Target.
- Chris Collins, Papa Johns VP of treasury and tax, has been appointed principal financial and accounting officer on an interim basis while the company searches for a permanent CFO.
Dive Insight:
Gugino is the second major executive to leave Papa Johns this year, following COO Max Wetzel’s resignation in February to become the CEO at CKE Restaurants. Gugino succeeded CFO Joe Smith, who worked at Papa Johns for nearly 20 years.
Collins has been at Papa Johns since April 2021 and has over 25 years of experience overseeing financial functions for public companies in the U.S. and internationally. Before joining Papa Johns, Collins was VP, treasury at Signet Jewelers. He also held positions at The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company and American Axle & Manufacturing, according to the SEC filing.
Gugino seems to be leaving Papa Johns in good financial standing. North American comparable sales were up 1% in 2022 at the chain compared to 2021and 30% compared to 2019, according to the Q4 2022 company’s earnings release. The pizza brand has leveraged third-party delivery partnerships to ease labor shortages among delivery drivers, which helped the company continue to grow sales while competitors like Domino’s saw a dip in U.S. delivery same-store sales last year.
