WMT Walmart Inc

By Micah Maidenberg 

Gap Inc. said it promoted the head of Old Navy to be its chief executive and appointed a board member to take over as board chairman from Bob Fisher, one of the sons of the company's founders.

Sonia Syngal, who will take over the CEO position at Gap effective March 23, joined the company in 2004 and served in a variety of executive roles before taking on the top job at Old Navy in April 2016, according to a filing. Ms. Syngal boosted the brand's store footprint in North America and Mexico and developed its e-commerce capabilities, Gap said Thursday.

She will succeed Mr. Fisher, who has been serving in that role on an interim basis since November, when former Gap CEO Art Peck stepped down. Mr. Fisher will remain on the board.

Mr. Fisher will also step aside as executive chairman of the company, effective March 23, and will be succeeded by Bobby Martin, a former top executive of Walmart Inc.'s international business and a Gap board member since 2002.

About a year ago, Gap said it planned to spin off Old Navy into a separately traded public company, but jettisoned those plans in January, saying the split would have been too expensive and complex to pull off.

Gap has struggled to bolster sales, though Old Navy has been a relatively bright spot until more recently. Sales at Old Navy stores open at least a year fell for the first three quarters in the recently completed fiscal year after rising for most of 2018.

The company is expected to report the results for the full year next week. In January, Gap said it anticipated full-year sales would fall less than it previously expected. It also raised its earnings guidance, after lowering estimates in the fall. The new guidance was due in part to lower markdowns over the holidays, particularly at Old Navy.

The company's other brands, which include the Gap and Banana Republic, have also struggled with falling sales. Hundreds of those chains' stores have been closed in recent years.

Gap also said Thursday that Elizabeth Smith, the former CEO of Bloomin' Brands Inc., and Amy Miles, the former CEO of Regal Entertainment Group, will join its board.

Shares of Gap, which have fallen more than 50% over the past year, fell 1.4% to $13.18 in after-hours trading Thursday.

Write to Micah Maidenberg at micah.maidenberg@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

March 05, 2020 18:51 ET (23:51 GMT)

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