Investor sentiment at retail giant Carrefour is likely to be affected, somewhat, by the ongoing questions over the identity of who will replace Georges Plassat as CEO next year, according to Barclays European Food Retail Equity Research.
Rewe Group CEO Alain Caparros has been the latest high-profile retail CEO to deny that he is in line to succeed Plassat when the CEO steps down in May of 2018, following a denial by Hubert Joly, the CEO of Best Buy, last Friday.
In a statement, Caparros said that he is "definitely" ruling out a move to Carrefour, having extended his contract at Rewe to run until the end of 2018. He also added that he is "very grateful for the confidence placed in me" by the Rewe board.
Last Friday, Best Buy's Joly was similarly definitive in his response to the speculation, saying, "Let me be clear: I am fully committed to Best Buy’s continued transformation and have absolutely no plans to leave.”
Commenting, Barclays said, "We fear that the continuing lack of visibility on Carrefour’s succession plan will likely continue to weigh on investor sentiment."
© 2017 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest retail news. Article by Stephen Wynne-Jones. Click subscribe to sign up for ESM: The European Supermarket Magazine.
