New retail star at Comet group

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He has been hired to replace fellow Frenchman Jean-Nöel Labroue as chief executive of the company that owns Comet in the UK.

Labroue, 60, announced his intention to retire last year, since when Kesa has been buffeted along with the rest of the retail sector by the dark clouds above the economy.

Falque-Pierrotin — poached from PPR, the world's third-largest home shopping group — has previously worked for Pallas Finance and JP Morgan. He starts in January, by which time Kesa can expect to have endured a rocky Christmas.

Last month it said Comet's like-for-like sales were down nearly 10% in the previous quarter.

Shares in Kesa, which also owns Darty in France, have tumbled by two-thirds in the last 18 months.

Today they fell another 6.75p to 105.5p.

Labroue has been chief executive since 2003, following the demerger of the company from Kingfisher.