By Razak Musah Baba
LONDON-- Tesco PLC Chief Financial Officer Laurie McIlwee has
decided to step down, the largest U.K. supermarket retailer said
Friday, as the company continues to seek results from a
long-running turnaround plan.
"I am proud of what we have achieved at Tesco over the last few
years," Mr. McIlwee said in a statement. "However, after 14 years
at Tesco I feel that now is the right time for me to pursue new
opportunities."
Mr. McIlwee began his career with Tesco in 2000 as U.K. finance
director, and after four years, he became distribution director. He
has been chief financial officer since 2009.
Tesco, which competes with Carrefour SA of France for the title
of world's second-largest retailer by revenue after Wal-Mart Stores
Inc., is partway through a turnaround plan designed to redress
years of underinvestment. The U.K. market leader's growth has
lagged behind that of rivals such as Wal-Mart-owned Asda and J
Sainsbury PLC for several years.
For the first half ended Aug. 24, the retailer reported a 23.5%
drop in statutory pretax profit to GBP1.39 billion ($2.3 billion),
compared with pretax profit of GBP1.81 billion in the year-earlier
period. Tesco is due to report its full-year results on April
16.
Tesco's U.K. market share fell to its lowest level since late
2004 in the most recent survey by Kantar Worldpanel. In the 12
weeks ended March 2, its share was 28.7%, still the largest in the
market but down a few percentage points in the past several
years.
Shares at 1452 GMT were down 1.5% at 287 pence, valuing the
company at GBP23.3 billion.
Kathy Gordon contributed to this article.
Write to Razak Musah Baba at Razak.Baba@wsj.com
Access Investor Kit for Carrefour SA
Visit
http://www.companyspotlight.com/partner?cp_code=A591&isin=FR0000120172
Access Investor Kit for Tesco Plc
Visit
http://www.companyspotlight.com/partner?cp_code=A591&isin=GB0008847096
Access Investor Kit for J Sainsbury Plc
Visit
http://www.companyspotlight.com/partner?cp_code=A591&isin=GB00B019KW72
Access Investor Kit for Carrefour SA
Visit
http://www.companyspotlight.com/partner?cp_code=A591&isin=US1444302046
Access Investor Kit for J Sainsbury Plc
Visit
http://www.companyspotlight.com/partner?cp_code=A591&isin=US4662492085
Access Investor Kit for Tesco Plc
Visit
http://www.companyspotlight.com/partner?cp_code=A591&isin=US8815753020
Access Investor Kit for Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.
Visit
http://www.companyspotlight.com/partner?cp_code=A591&isin=US9311421039
Subscribe to WSJ: http://online.wsj.com?mod=djnwires