(Adds details, analyst reaction, shares)
By Paul Sandle
LONDON, Feb 25 (Reuters) - SuperGroup Plc, the ownerof the Superdry fashion brand, said on Wednesday its financechief Shaun Wills had quit after being declared bankrupt twoweeks ago.
Wills, who is a qualified accountant, was made the subjectof a personal bankruptcy order on Feb. 10, the company said, butit did not find out about it until Feb. 24.
"This is a personal matter ... and is wholly unrelated tothe financial position of the company," SuperGroup said in astatement on Wednesday.
It is a criminal offence for a bankrupt person to act as acompany director.
The seller of Superdry jackets, hooded tops and check shirtssaid it had appointed Nick Wharton, previously chief executiveof Dunelm Group and before that chief financial officer(CFO) of Halfords Group, as interim CFO.
Shares in SuperGroup were trading down 2.8 percent at 984pence at 0946 GMT, valuing the group at 800 million pounds ($1.2billion).
Analyst Freddie George at Cantor said the timing could notbe worse, coming less then two weeks after the departure ofChief Operating Officer Susanne Given.
However, George said Wharton was a "safe pair of hands" whoshould work well with Chief Executive Euan Sutherland.
Sutherland had more than his fill of boardroom problems inhis previous job running the Co-operative Group, resulting inhis resignation last year. Wills had been SuperGroup CFO formore than two years when Sutherland joined in October.
Wills had held senior roles at retailers Habitat, Fat Face,New Look and Debenhams and according to SuperGroup's annualreport was paid just over 500,000 pounds, including bonus andbenefits, in the year to April 26, 2014.
SuperGroup, which had one of the best Christmases on thehigh street, said trading was in line with previous forecasts.
($1 = 0.6447 pounds) (Editing by David Clarke)