Matthew Barnes To Succeed Jason Tarry As Tesco UK CEO
ESM - European Supermarket Magazine
The industry magazine for C-suite executives and procurement managers working in the European grocery retail sector.
Tesco has appointed Matthew Barnes as the new chief executive of Tesco UK, effective 1 March 2024. Barnes succeeds Jason Tarry, who has decided to part ways with Tesco in March 2024 after more than 33 years, including six years as chief executive of the UK business, the retailer noted. Over the years, Tarry guided Tesco through its turnaround and more recently the pandemic. He was instrumental in rebuilding its competitiveness in the UK and putting customers back at the heart of the business.
Portuguese supermarket group Jerónimo Martins expects to open its first stores in Slovakia at the end of next year in an expansion of its Polish chain Biedronka, its finance chief said. The Slovakia unit's results would be reported separately from Biedronka, chief financial officer Ana Luisa Virginia said, adding that it was premature to provide any guidance for investment and sales of the unit. "We are talking about an operation done from scratch, we are not disclosing much," she said on a conference call with analysts.
Carrefour has reported weaker third-quarter sales growth than expected, as food price inflation declined and consumers kept cutting back on spending. Chief executive Alexandre Bompard had warned in August that French consumers were massively cutting their spending on essential goods, and blamed consumer goods firms for not bringing prices down fast enough. Third-quarter sales came in at €23.63 billion, marking like-for-like growth of 9%, a slowdown from 10.3% growth in the second quarter, but Carrefour stuck to its 2023 targets. The weaker sales, missing analysts' expectations of €24.22 billion, were due to food inflation slowing in France and food prices falling in Brazil, the company said.
Retailer Casino slashed its 2023 earnings outlook for France, saying investments required to fund price cuts to boost customer traffic and volumes in its supermarkets and hypermarkets would weigh on profits. Casino said in a trading update for France that it now expected full-year EBITDA (earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation) after lease payments to be €100 million ($105.4 million) instead of the €214 million forecast in July. French retail sales fell 5.6% in the third quarter year on year on a same store basis, reflecting an 18.6% fall in hypermarket sales and an 11.5% fall in supermarket sales.
Spanish retailer Dia Group has reported a 4.5% increase in sales on a like-for-like basis in the first nine months of the year, to €4.64 billion. Sales were up 3% on a reported basis. The turnover achieved excludes the sales registered in the stores transferred to Alcampo in Spain, as well as sales in Portugal and in its Clarel chain. The group said that its performance underlines the 'strength of Dia's strategy in a complex environment'.
Reader feedback:
We're always on look-out for comments and feedback, so please join the conversation.
Recommended by LinkedIn
As always, feel free to comment below or write to us at jamie@esmmagazine.com.
Most read by subscribers this week:
The latest issue of our magazine is out now
In our September/October edition, we present our annual The World of Food and Drink Report, incorporating a preview of Anuga 2023; we discover Europe's most-chosen brands in the Kantar Brand Footprint report, we catch up with former Metro CEO Olaf Koch to discuss his new venture, and we learn how Delivery Hero is rewiring quick commerce.
Enjoyed this newsletter?
Sign up for our free weekly newsletter, Retail Digest.
Subscribe to ESM: European Supermarket Magazine, and enjoy unlimited digital access for 30 days.
Customer Care at McDonald's
8moI am absolutley disgusted in Tesco , recently a friend of mine retired ,after giving 20yrs service to Tesco , but a few yrs ago he was made redundant from his job as it was no longer needed , after a 6 month period he was allowed reapply as he was,nt of pension age ,1 of Tescos perks if thats what you want to call it, employees are given a discount card 10% it might not seem a great deal but in the current Climate to some households its a big deal , anyone who has a long service when retires gets to keep it ,which my friend would have had all for that break of 6 months they had to hand it in , the amount of profit this company makes i find this the lowest of the low and i wont ever step foot in another Tesco GREED at its highest level .