Amid rumors of a possible sale of the company, Long Beach supply chain services provider UTi Worldwide Inc. said late Monday that Eric W. Kirchner had resigned as chief executive and Edward G. Feitzinger would take over the top spot, effective immediately.

Feitzinger has also been named as a member of UTi’s board, replacing Kirchner, who had also been a board member. Feitzinger, 47, has been with UTi since 2010, most recently as an executive vice president.

The leadership change came on the heels of a story by Bloomberg News last week that the company was discussing a sale to Danish trucking firm DSV A/S. UTi responded to the story saying its initial conversations with that company, stemming from a DSV inquiry, hadn’t progressed and that no further discussions were occurring.

On Tuesday morning, UTi reported results for its most recent quarter, ended Oct. 31. In the three-month period, UTi had revenue of $1.08 billion, down 7 percent from the same period a year earlier. Net loss widened to $34 million, or 35 cents per share, compared with a net loss of $9 million, or 9 cents per share, in the year-ago period.

During the morning earnings call, the company told reporters it wouldn’t answer any questions about the strategic transaction or the change in the company’s CEO position.

Feitzinger said the company had an “obvious cost problem” and that dealing with that would be a focus of his leadership.