Asda chief merchandising officer Jesús Lorente is to leave the Walmart-owned grocer little over a year after being appointed.

Anthony Hemmerdinger, who joined last November as senior vice-president, retail operations director, will now take on another new role.

Hemmerdinger will become senior vice-president, operations, and Asda’s logistics and supply functions will report to him. The rest of Asda’s commercial functions will report to chief executive Roger Burnley.

It has not been disclosed whether Lorente, who formerly worked for French giant Carrefour, has another role lined up.

Asda has continued to improve performance, according to the latest Kantar market share data.

In the in 12 weeks to July 15, Asda’s performance was the strongest among the big four grocers. Its sales increased by 3.7%, its strongest growth in more than five years.

Hemmerdinger’s new role reflects the importance of the retailer’s end-to-end supply chain, from logistics to stores, as it bids to improve performance further in the run-up to a proposed merger with Sainsbury’s.

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