TORONTO — BlackBerry announced yesterday a management shake-up that includes the departure of three top executives — including its Chief Financial Officer — as new CEO John Chen attempts to turn around the struggling smartphone maker with a fresh team.

Chief Operating Officer Kristian Tear and Chief Marketing Officer Frank Boulben, who were hired under previous CEO Thorsten Heins, are leaving the company and will not be replaced, said BlackBerry yesterday.

Mr Brian Bidulka, the finance chief, will be departing after eight years at the company.

Mr Chen, former CEO of Sybase, took the reins at BlackBerry on Nov 4after the collapse of a proposed US$4.7 billion (S$5.9 billion) buy-out by Fairfax Financial Holdings.

BlackBerry then raised US$1 billion in a convertible debt sale, giving it more of a cushion as Mr Chen formulates his comeback plan.

“I will continue to align my senior management team and organisational structure, and refine the company’s strategy to ensure we deliver the best devices, mobile security and device management,” said Mr Chen in a statement yesterday.

Mr James Yersh, who was a controller and head of compliance at BlackBerry, will replace Mr Bidulka as CFO. Board member Roger Martin has also resigned from the company, according to the statement.

The BlackBerry, pioneered in 1999, was once the dominant smartphone due to its mobile email that was popular with businessmen and tech-savvy consumers.

But then came a new generation of competing smartphones, starting with Apple’s iPhone in 2007, which made the BlackBerry, once a game-changing breakthrough in personal connectedness, look ancient.

The Canadian firm reported a quarterly loss of nearly US$1 billion in the second quarter ended August, with revenue down 45 per cent on-year to US$1.6 billion. Agencies