Sainsbury’s chief executive Justin King has announced Philip Hampton will replace Sir Peter Davis as chairman of the troubled chain on July 19.
According to King the original intention had been to recruit Hampton as deputy chairman and eventual successor to Sir Peter. On announcing Hampton’s appointment, King said: “We will make a great team with very complementary skills.”
Brokers slashed profit forecasts for the year to March 2005 from a consensus figure of £505 million pre-tax to about £400m and cut their forecasts for future years. In the year to March 2003, pre-tax profits were £675m.
King has given himself until October to find a new path for the grocer after admitting that a multi million-pound investment programme instigated by his predecessor is not delivering.
King said that new, highly automated depots introduced in the past two years had been struck by problems, requiring old depots to be kept in use by additional staff to ensure the flow of products. He admitted that he did not know how long it would take to put the system right, but said: “We will be making improvements every day.”
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