Dunkin’ Brands’ announced Thursday that its chief financial officer, Paul Carbone, was stepping down to take a general management position in the specialty retail industry. Carbone, who’s departure will be official April 21, worked in the retail field prior to joining the company, which operates Dunkin’ Donuts and Baskin-Robbins.
Kate Jaspon, Dunkin’ Brands vice president, finance and treasurer, will serve as interim CFO as the company begins a “comprehensive search for a permanent CFO and will consider both internal and external candidates.”
Jaspon will report directly to Dunkin’ Brands CEO Nigel Travis and will be responsible for accounting, corporate tax, investor relations, and competitive intelligence in addition to her current duties, which include global financial planning and analysis, business analytics, debt and cash management, electronic payments, and insurance.
“Kate is a talented financial executive with a deep understanding of Dunkin’ Brands. She has helped lead us through a number of important transactions, including our IPO and follow-on equity offerings, securitization, and several debt restructurings, and has overseen the implementation of our enterprise risk management program. With her thorough knowledge of our business, her background in financial planning, analysis and reporting, as well as her accounting and treasury management skills, Kate is well qualified to lead our world-class financial team during this transition period,” says Travis in a statement. “We thank Paul for his significant contributions to the Company and wish him well in his new position.”
Jaspon has been part of the Dunkin’ company for 11 years. She started as assistant controller in 2005 and was later promoted to vice president, controller and corporate treasurer. She’s held her current title since 2014.
At the end of the fourth quarter 2016, Dunkin’ Brands’ 100 percent franchised business model included more than 12,200 Dunkin’ Donuts and more than 7,800 Baskin-Robbins.
Dunkin’ Donuts reported U.S. comparable store sales growth of 1.6 percent in fiscal 2016 and opened 397 units. Baskin-Robbins enjoyed 0.7 percent sales growth. In the fourth quarter, Dunkin’ Donuts had comparable store sales growth of 1.9 percent while Baskin-Robbins’ sales declined 0.9 percent.
