Michael Ford has resigned as CEO of The Good Guys and will leave the business at the end of this month.

Richard Murray, JB Hi-Fi Group chief executive, made the announcement today and also confirmed that Terry Smart will rejoin the group as CEO of The Good Guys.

Smart is the former CEO of JB HI-FI having held that position from May 2010 to June 2014 following 10 years as chief operating officer and will report to Murray.

In a statement to the ASX, Ford said after 13 years with the whitegoods retailer that the “decision to leave was difficult.”

“Having been with the business since 2004 and most recently navigated the business through the buy-out of the joint venture partners, the potential listing, and the sale process to JB Hi-Fi, I believe this is the right time for me to seek new challenges and for the business to move forward under new leadership,” he said.

Murray said Smart had a proven track-record “as one of Australia’s best retail executives and we look forward to him building on The Good Guys’ previous success.”

JB Hi-Fi also released its March quarter trading update, with comparable sales growth at 8.2 per cent and total sales growth was 10.8 per cent.

The Good Guys business comparable sales growth for the March quarter was 1.2 per cent and total sales growth was 2.6 per cent.

Murray reaffirmed the electronics and whitegood retailers previous guidance – expecting total Group sales to be circa $5.58 billion (JB HI-FI $4.33 billion and The Good 1 2 Guys $1.25 billion ), and Group underlying NPAT to be in the range of $200 million to $206 million, an increase of 31.4 per cent to 35.4 per cent on the pcp.

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