Tesco chairman may quit

It's bound to happen at a company in crisis and Tesco is no different. With a new chief executive and finance director in place, two big retail names on the board and a fifth executive reported to have been suspended, chairman Sir Richard Broadbent could soon be on his way.

With an inquiry by Deloitte into the £250 million black hole in the accounts underway, and the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) carrying out its own investigation, sources have told the Wall Street Journal Sir Richard might go once the findings are known.

Four Tesco executives - UK business boss Chris Bush and his finance chief Carl Rogberg, plus John Scouler and Matt Simister at the food operation - have been suspended, and it's now reported that a fifth - group commercial director Kevin Grace - has been stood down.

Broadbent joined the Tesco board three years ago and took up the chairman's role in November 2011. Before that, the former civil servant had chaired bus and train company Arriva and been deputy chairman at Barclays.

Tesco's share price under Broadbent's chairmanship

Clearing out the old guard - including Broadbent - is essential for Tesco to "rebuild trust," and bringing in experienced big names like Richard Cousins, currently chief executive at caterer Compass, and former Ikea boss Mikael Ohlsson is sensible.

As we said on Monday, these hires should be welcomed, but much depends on interim results due on 23 October when, hopefully, we'll hear more on the internal investigation underway and the FCA's own probe.

Technical support kicks in at about 160-165p, and if the inquiries don't throw up any nasties, then Tesco shares - currently up at 180p - might begin to look like a better proposition.

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