Afren finance director resigns amid recapitalisation

LONDON, June 12 (Reuters) - Oil producer Afren (LSE: AFR.L - news) is on the lookout for a new finance director after CFO Darra Comyn resigned on Friday, in the middle of a restructuring process to help it deal with a mounting debt pile.

Comyn, who has been on Afren's board since March 2010, is expected to leave in the summer, in time to seal the restructuring deal, the company said.

"Darra has agreed to remain as an employee of the company until the restructuring closes," Afren said.

The company still held around $1.3 billion debt last month and said this week it would default on $11.9 million in interest payments on 2020 bonds.

It has been hit hard by a series of problems over the past year, including the dismissal of founder and then CEO Osman Shahenshah, a dry oilfield in Iraqi Kurdistan and a failed takeover approach by Nigeria's Seplat Petroleum.

On June 10 it said it would provide an update on its recapitalisation within a week.

Afren also announced on Friday it had appointed Petroceltic executive David Thomas as Chief Operating Officer, effective June 8. (Reporting by Karolin Schaps, editing by William Hardy)