The company said in a stock exchange announcement Alan Stewart, who joins from Marks & Spencer, would start today rather than on the 1 December as previously planned.
Stewart – a veteran who has spent years in the industry and also had stints at HSBC and WH Smith – has been parachuted in ahead of schedule after the supermarket giant yesterday revealed it had overstated its expected profits for the six months to 29 August by a quarter of a billion pounds.
It said the error was largely due to the accelerated recognition of commercial income and delayed accrual of costs.
In a conference call for investors, group chief executive Dave Lewis said Tesco has contacted the financial regulator, which will investigate the matter.
It also suspended “a number of people”, including four senior executives.
Shares tumbled on Monday, closing down over 11% at 203p, taking them to a decade-low price.
Tesco’s new group chief executive Dave Lewis said the company has also asked Deloitte to undertake an independent review, and will give an update when it releases its interim results, which will now be on 23 October.
Yesterday’s profits warning is the third Tesco has issued this year, and has made for a difficult start to Lewis’ tenure.
Lewis only took over as chief executive in July following the departure of Philip Clarke off the back of a profits warning. In August, the group’s shares dropped 10% after it issued yet another warning and slashed its dividend by 75%.
