(Yicai Global) Sept. 28 -- The chief executive officer of troubled Chinese home appliance retailer Gome Electrical Appliances has departed after less than a year in the job, in the third such resignation in the last 14 months.

Wang Wei stepped down as CEO last week due to personal reasons, Yicai Global learnt from an insider familiar with this matter. Senior Vice President Li Juntao will take charge until a replacement can be found.

There have been three CEOs at the unit of beleaguered white goods retailer Gome Holdings Group in little over a year. 45-year-old Wang Wei took over from Wang Bo earlier this year, when Wang Bo was transferred to head the firm’s businesses in eastern China and Shanghai. Wang Bo had only been in the position since October last year after Zhang Deju stepped down due to health issues last July.

And it is not just the CEO post that is proving hard to fill. The CEO of Gome Holdings' after-sales services, Zeng Zhining, quit last month together with Ding Wei, executive vice president of Gome Holdings' e-commerce platform Zhenkuaile, Yicai Global learnt. And He Yangqing, head of the group’s investment company, also stood down recently.

The instability is indicative of the debt-crisis engulfing the parent firm. Beijing-based Gome Holdings told Yicai Global earlier this week that it was unable to pay its staff wages this month and it that may have to start letting staff go.

As one of the largest brick-and-mortar retailers in China, Gome Holdings has struggled to find its feet since its founder Huang Guangyu was jailed for insider trading and graft in 2010, although he has since been released. Business was also hard hit by coronavirus outbreaks that shuttered stores and upended deliveries of online orders, the firm said in its first-half earnings report.

And the company has stumbled amid stiff online competition from the likes of Alibaba Group Holding and JD.com and has lost money for five consecutive years. Its losses widened 50 percent to CNY2.9 billion (USD414 million) in the six months ended June 30 from a year earlier, while revenue sank 53 percent to CNY12.1 billion (USD1.6 billion).

The share price of the group’s listed arm Gome Retail [HKG:0493] closed down 3.23 percent at HKD0.15 (USD0.19) today. The stock has lost 77 percent in value so far this year.

Editors: Dou Shicong, Kim Taylor