American Walmart plans to appoint Sean Clarke, currently CEO of its Chinese division, as CEO of its British division, Asda.
7th straight quarter with turnover loss
The move would be a major surprise: Asda’s current CEO, Andy Clarke, has said on multiple occasions that Roger Burnley should be his successor. Burnley will leave competitor Sainsbury to become Asda’s COO, but can only join in October because he has to respect a 12-month notice.
Apparently, Walmart is not willing to wait, because Sky News reports Walmart wants to appoint Andy Clarke’s successor later this week. The new CEO will face a huge challenge to get the chain out of its slump, because its turnover dropped for the seventh straight quarter.
Sean Clarke knows his way around Asda, because he was the company’s financial director at the start of his career. He later worked in Canada, Germany and Japan before ending up in China, where he became Walmart China’s CEO.
