Tesco Financial Chief Laurie Mcilwee to Step Down

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 [e-mail]

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