Morrisons has caved into City pressure and shaken up its board, sacking finance director Martin Ackroyd.
The move, to pre-empt a shareholder revolt, came as Morrisons unveiled another poor set of results.
In the shake-up, the retailer has created the position of chief executive for the first time in the company’s 106-year history, and promoted Bob Stott, formerly joint managing director, to the role.
David Jones, non-executive director, has been given the task of finding future successors to both the chairman, Ken Morrison, and Stott, who recently turned 62.
However, shareholder remained unimpressed by the move and the share price slipped 3.5p to 198.25p.
Ackroyd, who has been with the retailer for 31 years, will step down once an external replacement has been found. He is expected to receive up to £400,000 compensation.
In results, Morrisons said pre-tax profit fell seven per cent to £297 million, while operating profit before exceptionals was £321.1m, at the bottom of expectations.
The group admitted that the Safeway acquisition had put considerable strain on its financial resources.
Meanwhile, the sales decline in Safeway stores yet to be converted to the Morrisons format appears to be easing. Excluding petrol, underlying sales in the 180 stores were just 0.5 per cent weaker.
Stott said he was delighted with the progress the company was making to integrate Safeway, pointing to an 11.3 per cent jump in sales at the 76 converted stores. Average sales per square foot are now moving towards the group’s £19.72 target, he added.
