Britain's Asda brings back industry veteran Leighton to lead business
Adds detail on performance paragraph 2, Rose background and comments paragraphs 3 and 4 , Leighton and Rose details paragraphs 5 to 8, TDR Capital comment paragraph 9
Leighton was CEO 1996 to 2001, sold business to Walmart
Succeeds Stuart Rose as chair
Rose said Asda has 'lost the plot'
Asda has been losing market share to rivals
By James Davey, Muvija M
LONDON, Nov 23 (Reuters) - Struggling British supermarket Asda said on Saturday veteran retailer Allan Leighton would return as executive chairman, more than two decades after he served as CEO when he turned around the business before selling it to Walmart WMT.N.
Britain's third largest grocer, now majority owned by private equity firm TDR Capital, has been losing market share to rivals, including industry leader Tesco TSCO.L and No. 2 Sainsbury's SBRY.L, according to monthly data .
Leighton will succeed fellow veteran Stuart Rose, who has been chair since 2021 and in September assumed the executive responsibilities of co-owner Mohsin Issa.
Earlier this month, Rose said Asda had "slightly lost the plot" , highlighting inadequate store standards, poor product availability and prices not as sharp as they have been in the past. But he said the business is fixable.
At the same time, Asda reported a 4.8% fall in third quarter like-for-like sales and warned that measures in the new Labour government's budget last month would cost the group 100 million pounds ($125 million).
Leighton served as Asda CEO from 1996 to 2001, driving a turnaround with then chairman Archie Norman before the business was sold to Walmart for 6.7 billion pounds. Leighton also served as president of Canadian retail group Loblaw and chairman of Britain's Co-op and the Royal Mail.
Asda said Rose willremain on the board to ensure an orderly transition before stepping down.
"I am delighted to be returning to the business which has always been a special place for me," Leighton said.
Gary Lindsay, managing partner of TDR Capital, said Leighton's "experience and understanding of Asda will stand us in good stead as he leads the business into the next stage of its development".
Walmart retains a 10% stake in Asda.
($1 = 0.7980 pounds)
Reporting by James Davey and Muvija M, editing by Giles Elgood
Related Assets
Latest News
Disclaimer: The XM Group entities provide execution-only service and access to our Online Trading Facility, permitting a person to view and/or use the content available on or via the website, is not intended to change or expand on this, nor does it change or expand on this. Such access and use are always subject to: (i) Terms and Conditions; (ii) Risk Warnings; and (iii) Full Disclaimer. Such content is therefore provided as no more than general information. Particularly, please be aware that the contents of our Online Trading Facility are neither a solicitation, nor an offer to enter any transactions on the financial markets. Trading on any financial market involves a significant level of risk to your capital.
All material published on our Online Trading Facility is intended for educational/informational purposes only, and does not contain – nor should it be considered as containing – financial, investment tax or trading advice and recommendations; or a record of our trading prices; or an offer of, or solicitation for, a transaction in any financial instruments; or unsolicited financial promotions to you.
Any third-party content, as well as content prepared by XM, such as: opinions, news, research, analyses, prices and other information or links to third-party sites contained on this website are provided on an “as-is” basis, as general market commentary, and do not constitute investment advice. To the extent that any content is construed as investment research, you must note and accept that the content was not intended to and has not been prepared in accordance with legal requirements designed to promote the independence of investment research and as such, it would be considered as marketing communication under the relevant laws and regulations. Please ensure that you have read and understood our Notification on Non-Independent Investment. Research and Risk Warning concerning the foregoing information, which can be accessed here.
