J.C. Penney Co Inc said on Wednesday that Michael Dastugue is leaving on Friday after just 15 months as chief financial officer as the department store chain continues to work on its overhaul under its new chief executive.

Chief Operating Officer Mike Kramer will assume the CFO duties on an interim basis while a search for a replacement is conducted, the company said. Kramer joined Penney in December, a month after his former boss at Apple Inc, Ron Johnson, became Penney's new chief executive officer.

Shares of Penney rose 3 percent to $34.20 in morning trade.

Under Johnson, Penney quickly did away with its old pricing strategy and is bringing in stores featuring certain brands such as Martha Stewart inside the chain's large department stores to revitalize the 110-year old chain.

Before he joined Penney, Kramer was most recently president and CEO of clothing maker Kellwood Co. From 2000 to 2005 he was CFO of Apple Retail, where he reported to Johnson.

Dastugue, 47, has been at Penney since 1991 and was named CFO in January 2011. He previously worked as a senior accountant at Arthur Andersen.

His departure was announced less than a week after Penney said it planned to cut hundreds of jobs at its Plano, Texas headquarters and shut down a customer call center in Pittsburgh.

(Reporting by Jessica Wohl in Chicago; Editing by Gerald E. McCormick and Tim Dobbyn)

Martha stewart Apple inc.