The resignation of Carrefour finance director Herve Defforey may have surprised analysts, said a spokesman for the French retailer, "but it didn't surprise anyone in the business".
Rejecting claims that chief executive Daniel Bernard had made Defforey a scapegoat for the recent problems within the group, spokesman Christian Honore said that Defforey had been planning to leave for some time to "devote more time to his family".
After seven years with the company, Defforey was "tired" and wanted to pursue personal projects, said Honore.
Although the eight strong executive board at Carrefour had full confidence in Mr Defforey, they were "fully aware" of his desire to leave, he added.
Carrefour's shareprice had tumbled more than 2% because Defforey's replacement, the head of Carrefour's Spanish operation Jose-Luis Duran, was "very young and not well known by the markets," said Honore.
Analysts remained sceptical about the official explanation of Defforey's departure, suspecting that he "walked" over disagreements with other board members over strategy.
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