May 20 - Retailer Sears Holdings Corp said its chief financial officer, Michael Collins, has resigned "to pursue another opportunity."

Shoppers at the Sears store in Woodbridge Mall, NJ, USA (Photo: Corbis)

The operator of Sears department stores and the Kmart discount chain has appointed William Phelan, who has been senior vice president and controller of the company since September 2007, as acting CFO, effective immediately.

Collins will remain with Sears until June 10 to help with the transition, Sears said in a regulatory filing on Friday.

The news came a day after the company, led by hedge fund manager Edward Lampert, reported a bigger-than-expected quarterly loss.

The retailer has seen sales fall in every year since it was formed through the merger of Kmart and Sears in 2005.

In February, Sears named former Avaya Inc CEO Lou D'Ambrosio as its CEO after letting Bruce Johnson serve as interim CEO for about 3 years.

Sears shares were down 0.4 percent at $71.75 in after-hours trading.

(Reporting by Dhanya Skariachan; editing by Andre Grenon)