Tesco replaces CEO as profit slides

Tesco replaced CEO Philip Clarke after first-half profit trailed expectations, the latest in a series of setbacks since the company veteran took the helm in 2011.

Dave Lewis, who as head of Unilever’s personal-care unit has led the expansion of the British-Dutch firm’s fastest-growing business, will succeed 54-year-old Clarke on October 1, the supermarket operator said.

Clarke is being replaced after struggling to stem the march of discounters Aldi and Lidl at one end of the UK grocery market, and upscale chains such as Waitrose at the other.