Halfords appoints Tesco veteran as CEO

LONDON (Reuters) - Car parts and bike retailer Halfords Group appointed a former head of Tesco's central European operations as chief executive as it looks to expand into Poland.

David Wild will take over as CEO of Halfords on August 4 from Ian McLeod, who stepped down in February to head up Australia's Wesfarmers.

Wild, currently Wal-Mart's senior vice president for new business development, previously spent 18 years at Tesco, Britain's biggest retailer, as group supply chain director and chief executive of central Europe.

Shore Capital analyst John Stevenson said Wild's previous European experience is relevant to Halford's international ambitions.

The retailer, which runs around 450 stores selling spark plugs, car radios and bicycles, is expanding in central Europe with plans this year for its sixth store in the Czech Republic and its first in Poland.

"This is an excellent appointment for Halfords. The change in CEO offers a significant opportunity," Stevenson said. "Halfords can move from being defensive and relatively cheap against the sector, to defensive with strong and attractive, sustainable, long-term earnings growth."

Shore Capital has a "buy" rating on Halfords stock.

Shares in Halfords, which posted an 8 percent rise in annual profit earlier this month, were up 1.0 percent at 0850 GMT.

(Reporting by Rania El-Gamal; Editing by David Holmes)