Asda - comment
Mohsin Issa stepping down as CEO of ASDA was inevitable, with EG Group needing his attention. Stuart Rose (already the chair) will take over executive responsibilities as ASDA seeks a permanent replacement; Rose has the pedigree as an interim appointment, but ASDA needs a permanent CEO. In addition to needing to defend market share whilst improving margins, a new CEO will have to deal with ongoing snags in the separation of ASDA and Wal-Mart’s IT systems, which were part of the reason for poor sales performance in Q2 (stocking issues). Some IT troubles were inevitable given the scale of the project, and pricing support is only slowly decreasing across the UK grocery market. We like the ASDA SUNs as we see improving cash flow generation on the horizon. The next catalyst will be the court decision on the equal pay claim; ASDA has an indemnity from Wal-Mart (amount undisclosed), which will limit the impact.