Tesco suspends 'number of people' after profits statement was £250m out

Tesco’s UK managing director and other four executives were suspended after the supermarket overstated its half-year profits guidance by £250m.

16:44 22 September 2014

Tesco chief executive Dave Lewis has confirmed that they “have uncovered a serious issue” and have suspended four executives after its latest profit statement was a quarter of a billion pounds off target. He said that the suspension of “a number of people” is "to facilitate the fullest and deepest investigation possible".

 

Mr Lewis said that multi-channel director Robin Terrell would be “stepping in and running and leading the UK leadership team.” However, he refused to confirm if UK managing director Chris Bush had been suspended. 

 

Mr Lewis said that the issue was “something completely out of the ordinary” and his priority was to carry out “a full and frank investigation.” 

 

"We will take decisive action as the results of the investigation become clear," he added.

 

It has also been confirmed that Tesco had been lacking a chief financial officer for the past week. Its latest CFO Laurie Mcllwee left just a week ago.