Walmart set to name China boss as new Asda CEO

Wal-Mart, the US-headquartered retailer, is set to name its China boss as the new chief executive of Asda.

According to Sky News, Sean Clarke is going to be announced as the replacement for current chief executive Andy Clarke as early as this week.

This appointment would be a surprise to the British food retail industry as it was believed that Roger Burnley of Sainsbury’s would become Asda’s next chief operating officer.

If Sean Clarke makes the move to Asda, he will face an enormous challenge in turning around the performance of the struggling Leeds-headquartered supermarket chain.

Just last month, Asda reported a drop in sales for the seventh quarter in a row as it continues to suffer from a price war with the other ‘big four’ UK supermarkets, Sainsbury’s, Tesco and Morrisons’, as well as the fast-growing discount food retailers Lidl and Aldi.

At the time, Brett Biggs, chief financial officer at Walmart, commented: “The UK continues to struggle, due primarily to fierce competition.

“Improvements in price and product availability throughout the quarter were not enough to overcome traffic and food volume declines in our large format stores.”

Wal-Mart or Asda has yet to comment.