Tesco share price rises amid talk of more boardroom changes and mounting pressure on chairman Sir Richard Broadbent
Tesco's share price recovered slightly yesterday, ticking up 2.4 per cent by close, but the talk was of more changes at the top.
According to the Financial Times, Tesco shareholders have been meeting with the company's senior non-executive director Patrick Cescau to ascertain if further boardroom reshaping is required.
Tesco appointed two new board members yesterday, Richard Cousins and Mikael Ohlsson.
Citing people familiar with the situation, the FT said that Cescau will discuss the composition of the board in due course.
The company's torrid year means that pressure is mounting on chairman Sir Richard Broadbent, who has been in the position since 2011.
The FT understands, however, that there is a belief that a change of chairman, in the midst of other upheaval including a change of chief executive, might not be in the interests of the company.
Tesco's nadir came with a £250m half-year profit overstatement and criticism of Tesco's board has followed, with some commentators believing the company suffered from a lack of retail experience at the top.
The appointments of Ohlsson and Cousins were aimed at rectifying that situation.
Yesterday a fifth Tesco senior executive, commercial director Kevin Grace, was asked to step down as part of an ongoing investigation. The other four executives are Chris Bush, managing director for the UK, Carl Rogberg UK finance director, John Scouler, food commercial director, and Matt Simister, responsible for sourcing.
Before yesterday's 2.4 per cent rise, Tesco's share price had fallen 52 per cent in a year.
At the time of writing another day of gains looked set to have begun: shares were up 3.5 per cent.
