Tesco asks another senior manager to step down

Beleaguered grocery giant Tesco has asked another member of its senior management to step down in the wake of an investigation into its accounting practices.

Kevin Grace, commercial director, has been asked by chief executive Dave Lewis to step aside as part of the investigation, The Financial Times reports, with sources saying he was asked to step aside on Monday.

Grace's departure will bring the total of senior executives leaving the company to five, after it was recently revealed that first-half profit guidance was overstated by £250m.

The four directors that have so far been asked to leave are UK managing director Chris Bush, UK finance director Carl Rogberg, food commercial director John Scouler, and head of group food sourcing Matt Simister.

The FTSE 100 stock has lost around 25% of its value since the company revealed on 22 September that it had overstated its profit forecasts for the six months to 23 August, mainly due to the "accelerated recognition of commercial income and delayed accrual of costs".

A full investigation into the incident has been launched by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), alongside the review Tesco initiated with its accountants Deloitte and law firm Freshfields.