Add Vera Bradley (VRA 0.73%) to the list of publicly traded companies on the lookout for a new chief executive. Current CEO Michael Ray has notified the company that he will retire, and Vera Bradley has formed a search committee to hunt for a successor, with the aid of executive search concern Spencer Stuart.
Ray has occupied the CEO's seat at Vera Bradley since October 2007. From June 2010, he was also on the company's board of directors. Before ascending to the chief executive position, Ray served at various points as executive vice president of sales and marketing, national sales director, and director of finance. He joined the company in 1998.
Separately, Vera Bradley announced its Q1 2014 results. For the quarter, the company brought in $123 million in net revenue, an improvement over Q1 2013's $117 million. But net profit fell to $9.2 million ($0.23 per diluted share), against the year-ago quarter's $12.6 million ($0.31).
