Financial services firm WH Ireland (LON:WHI) saw shares tumble over 8 percent on Thursday morning, reporting a financial loss and the departure of its CEO.

The group recorded an operating loss of £1.6 million in its annual results for the 16 months to the end of March, after significant changes to the business and the reporting period took its toll.

CEO Richard Killingbeck also announced that he would be stepping down at the end of July to pursue other opportunities. He will be replaced by Phillip Wale, the current Head of Fixed Income (Europe) at Cantor Fitzgerald Europe.

“We have made considerable progress continuing the transformation of WH Ireland. However, as we previously stated, this process of change has not been without its challenges given market conditions and the scale of change that we have been implementing; this has resulted in losses being incurred last year – but a much clearer path to profitability is now ahead of us in the new financial year and beyond,” said Tim Steel, Chairman of WH Ireland.

Shares in WH Ireland are currently trading down 8.20 percent at 117.50