Urban Outfitters shares plunge after chief resigns The sudden resignation of Urban Outfitters" chief executive sent shares in the youth fashion retailer falling sharply as several analysts asked whether it signalled deeper problems at the company. Urban shares dropped 19.2 per cent to $23.77 on Wednesday after the company said late on Tuesday that Glen Senk, who joined the company 18 years ago and became chief executive in 2007, had resigned from the post "to pursue another opportunity." Mr Senk, 55, will be succeeded immediately by Richard Hayne, 64, founder and chairman of Urban, which owns the Anthropologie and Free People store brands in addition to Urban Outfitters. The company has been battling to revive its profit growth and slim its inventory. Citigroup analysts said in a research note: "[Mr Senk's] abrupt departure puts a major dent in our near-term confidence that a turn is indeed at hand." Mr Hayne - who founded Urban in 1970 and has been chairman since the company was incorporated in 1976 - was a "guiding presence" in recent years, Citigroup said, "but we don't view him as having had a strong hand in day-to-day management." In the absence of further details about the reason for Mr Senk's departure, Citigroup asked: "Was it the challenges inherent in managing an organisation that had become more complex over time? A disagreement over the direction of a particular division? A recognition that the competitive landscape has changed? That may not be known for a while. Nomura analysts said that Mr Senk was one of the best merchants in the sector. If Glen can't do it, we wonder who can. [Urban] is still a good growth story, but the departure of Senk signals that problems at the company are no closer (more likely farther) to being solved. We do not see a positive catalyst for the stock in the near term," they wrote. Daniela Nedialkova, analyst at Atlantic Equities, was less pessimistic and said Mr Senk's departure did not necessarily signal new problems. Last week Urban reported a 4 per cent rise in like-for-like sales in the crucial holiday season, which Ms Nedialkova said was "a solid result and very much on track," even though it had depended on deep discounting. "We believe that the top priority for the company this holiday season was to clear inventories in order to start the spring season less pressured by inventory excess," she said in a research note.