LONDON — The chairman of Tesco, the world’s second-biggest retailer behind Walmart, announced his resignation Thursday amid an accounting scandal in which the company admitted it overstated projected profits. Richard Broadbent will step down once a successor is found while the company confirmed its financial troubles continued, with a 99 percent drop in first-half net income to $9.6 million. Shares in the supermarket chain slumped 6.6 percent.
“Three immediate priorities are clear: to recover our competitiveness in the U.K., to protect and strengthen our balance sheet and to begin the long journey back to building trust and transparency into our business and brand,” chief executive Dave Lewis said.
Tesco launched an investigation after discovering its first-half earnings estimate had been inflated by $422 million due to accounting errors that booked income early while delaying recognition of costs.
