Tesco share price dips as board reshuffle continues

Tesco (LON:TSCO) has continued to reshuffle its board with the exit of another non-executive director, Gareth Bullock, and the appointment of Unilever’s (LON:ULVR) Byron Grote. Britain’s largest retailer said in a statement today that Bullock had retired from the main board to “devote more time to his role on the board of Tesco Bank”. From May 1 he will be replaced by Grote, who will bring with him “extensive executive and non-executive financial and strategic experience”, Tesco said.

Grote is currently a non-executive director at consumer goods maker Unilever, where he worked alongside Tesco’s new chief executive Dave Lewis. The move comes just a week after fellow non-executive directors Jacqueline Tammenoms Bakker and Liv Garfield left the board. Their exits came days after the boss of Tesco’s convenience division, Sean McCurley, was made redundant weeks after returning from suspension related to the group’s £263 million profit overstatement last year. Tesco’s board composition has changed significantly since the emergence of the accountancy scandal. In addition to Lewis’ appointment as group CEO, Tesco named Alan Stewart as finance director last year, while John Allan succeeded Richard Broadbent as chairman at the beginning of this month.

Tesco’s share price has fallen since today’s board changes announcement. By of 12:53 GMT, the stock had declined 1.06 percent to 242.35p. According to the Financial Times, the 17 analysts projecting 12-month price targets for the FTSE 100-listed retailer have a median target of 235.00p, with a high estimate of 325.00p and a low of 155.00p. As of 1 March 2015, the consensus forecast amongst 37 polled investment analysts covering Tesco has it that investors should hold their position in the company.
As of 13:53 GMT, Wednesday, 04 March, Tesco PLC share price is 242.82p.