Kingfisher chief's contract slashed

CONTROVERSIAL Kingfisher chief executive Sir Geoff Mulcahy has had his contract reduced from two years to one. The change was agreed in secret last May and took effect from last month when Mulcahy turned 60.

News of the reduction in Mulcahy's notice period will heighten speculation that his long reign at the retail group will soon come to an end.

Compass chairman Francis Mackay has just been appointed chairman at Kingfisher, whose store chains include B&Q and Comet. Aged 57, one of his key jobs is to find a successor to Mulcahy.

Mulcahy has been involved with Kingfisher and Woolworths since the early 1980s. He became chief executive in 1986 and was chairman between 1990 and 1995.

During his tenure he has moved in and out of favour with the City but investors became increasingly frustrated with him last year, when Kingfisher spent nine months dithering about what to do with its subsidiary businesses Woolworths and Superdrug. Superdrug was eventually sold and Woolworths was demerged.

Many shareholders have since made no secret of their desire to see Mulcahy's power diminished. Succession discussions between him and Mackay are not thought to have taken place yet, but it is felt they must be on the agenda in the near future.

At a meeting in January between Mackay and senior Kingfisher managers, he said: 'Geoff and I are reading from the same page.'