Whole Foods co-founder John Mackey to become sole CEO

Whole Foods, which has been run by two CEOs for six years, said Wednesday that it is dropping one of them as it also reports that a key sales measure fell for the fifth straight quarter.

Co-founder John Mackey (pictured) will become the sole CEO at the end of the year. The other co-CEO, Walter Robb, will remain on Whole Foods' board and be a senior adviser to the company.

The natural foods grocer said sales fell 2.6 per cent at established stores in the fiscal fourth quarter, worse than the 2 per cent drop analysts expected, according to FactSet.

Whole Foods has been hurt by increasing competition from supermarkets and even big-box retailers that have been selling organic foods and products. This year, it opened its first lower-priced 365 by Whole Foods Market store.

Shares of Austin, Texas-based Whole Foods Market Inc. rose more than 4 per cent to $29.75 after the market closed Wednesday.

The company also reported net income of $88 million, or 28 cents per share, in the quarter, betting the 24 cents per share analysts expected, according to Zacks Investment Research.

It posted revenue of revenue of $3.5 billion in the period, which did not meet Street forecasts of $3.51 billion, according to Zacks.