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Bebe shares drop as CFO leaves for Urban Outfitters NEW YORK, Oct 30 (Reuters) - Bebe Stores Inc. (NasdaqNM:BEBE - News) shares fell 9 percent on Thursday after the chief financial officer resigned with less than two years on the job to take the same post at another clothing retailer. John Kyees is leaving Bebe to become CFO at Urban Outfitters Inc. (NasdaqNM:URBN-News),which operates the youth-oriented Urban Outfitters stores and Anthropologie stores for women. " With Kyees' departure, he is the second CFO to have resigned in the past two years," said analyst Todd Slater of Lazard Freres. "And now with a CFO and a CEO search under way, we would understand if the street may not afford the company as a high a multiple as originally expected, particularly as the street viewed him as a shareholders advocate." Shares of Brisbane, California-based Bebe, which sells women's clothing, dropped 9 percent to $28.00 on the Nasdaq. Bebe also said on Wednesday that Gregory Gemette would become chief merchandising officer in late November. Gemette had been a general merchandising manager for the women's store unit of American Eagle Outfitters Inc. (NasdaqNM:AEOS - News). " We had previously thought the announcement of the CMO would be a positive catalyst for the shares, though this is now offset by the loss of the CFO, which leaves a new management void," said SG Cowen analyst Lauren Cooks Levitan, who has an "outperform" rating on Bebe. Slater, who rates Bebe "overweight," said that there could be more headline risk for Bebe as it has a high level of exposure in Southern California, where same-store sales could be impacted by the fires. Slater said about 16 percent of Bebe's base is in Southern California. Philadelphia-based Urban Outfitters' former CFO, Steve Feldman, resigned in August. Shares of Urban Outfitters slipped 13 cents to $32.91 on the Nasdaq.
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