Esprit rises 6.3 percent after CEO reassures on turnaround plan

HONG KONG - Shares of Esprit Holdings Ltd were set to open up 6.3 percent on Friday after the outgoing chief executive sought to reassure investors that a costly restructuring is on track despite his and the company chairman's resignation.

The fashion retailer's shares, which lost about one-third of their value in the last two days following news of the resignations, were set to open at HK$9.81.

That was compared with a 0.62 percent gain in the benchmark Hang Seng Index .HSI

Outgoing chief executive Ronald van der Vis said late on Thursday that his family was the only reason behind his resignation from the retailer and that a crucial turnaround plan would go ahead as planned.

He said the timing of the double resignations had been "unfortunate" but his case was unrelated to that of Chairman Hans Joachim Korber, who quit on Wednesday.