Tesco Plc (TSCO) replaced Chief Executive Officer Philip Clarke after first-half profit trailed the grocer’s expectations, the latest in a series of setbacks since the company veteran took the helm about three years ago.
Dave Lewis, who as head of Unilever’s personal-care unit has led the expansion of the British-Dutch company’s fastest-growing business, will succeed 54-year-old Clarke on Oct. 1, the Cheshunt, England-based supermarket operator said today.
Clarke is being replaced after struggling to stem the march of discounters Aldi and Lidl at one end of the U.K. grocery market, and upscale chains such as Waitrose at the other. Since he started as CEO in March 2011, Tesco’s domestic market share has declined to 28.9 percent from 30.2 percent, while sales have slid in most of its international businesses. Current trading is “more challenging” than anticipated and first-half sales and profit are “somewhat below expectations,” Tesco said today.
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