Tesco CEO makes shock departure after profit warning

Tesco chief executive Philip Clarke has made a shock departure from the struggling retailer after it issued another profit warning.

In a statement this morning, Tesco said Clarke will leave on 1 October 2014 but would be available for a transition period until the end of January 2015. He will be replaced by Dave Lewis who is currently working as head of personal care at Unilever. This is the first time Tesco has appointed a chief executive from an external firm.  Lewis will be paid £1.2m and a sum of £525,000 in lieu of his bonus from Unilever, which he would otherwise forfeit. Current trading conditions at Tesco have been "more challenging" than anticipated and Tesco's sales and trading profits were lower than ex...