Roomba robotic-vacuum manufacturer iRobot (IRBT -1.79%) lost its chief financial officer Monday -- but it immediately named a replacement.
Current CFO John Leahy is stepping down from his post to join an unidentified "late-stage private company," iRobot advised in a statement. Taking his place will be newly promoted Executive Vice President, Treasurer, and CFO Alison Dean, an eight-year veteran of the company who served most recently in the capacity of principal accounting officer.
In an SEC filing describing the promotion, iRobot disclosed that it will pay Dean a salary of $325,000 in her new position, along with an annual "target bonus" of 60% of base compensation -- $195,000.
In the same statement announcing Dean's promotion, iRobot preannounced Q1 earnings that appear likely to exceed prior estimates. iRobot expects to report earning between $0.16 and $0.20 per share on $102 million to $104 million in revenue. Company CEO Colin Angle explained the overachievement thusly: "Strong sell through both domestically and overseas is driving sales of our home robots and our strong Q1 backlog in Defense & Security gives us confidence in achieving these expectations."
iRobot shares reacted positively to both news items, gaining 5.2% in Tuesday trading to close at $23.93.
