Wal-Mart taps insider to head international division

Wal-Mart Stores on Tuesday said the head of its Canadian division would take over the retailer's international unit next year, succeeding Doug McMillon, who was named CEO of the company last month.

David Cheesewright, who also runs Wal-Mart's Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) operations, takes the job at a time when Walmart International's profitability lags that of the overall company, and the unit is the focus of a costly bribery probe.

Cheesewright, 51, is credited with bringing the supercenter format to Canada and overseeing the integration of the Massmart acquisition in Africa and the Netto acquisition in Britain, where he started his Walmart career in 1999.

"We view Cheesewright as a natural choice for the job given the breadth and depth of his experience with Walmart International," Cowen & Co analyst Faye Landes wrote in a note, calling him a "one-man SWAT Team" for the unit.

Cheesewright will assume his new position on February 1, the same day McMillon takes the CEO post.

It is the second time in a month that Wal-Mart has promoted an insider to a top job; two weeks ago the retailer announced McMillon would succeed Mike Duke as CEO.

Cheesewright faces a number of big challenges. For one, Walmart International's profitability has been hurt by its aggressive expansion. Last quarter It contributed 28.8 percent of overall sales but only 23 percent of operating income.

Wal-Mart is now scaling back its expansion in key markets. It is closing about 50 under-performing stores out of hundreds it has in the major emerging markets of Brazil and China, the company said in October.

Walmart International is the company's second-largest unit - after its U.S. operations - and had sales of $135.2 billion in 2012.

On Cheesewright's watch, Wal-Mart undertook its biggest expansion in Canada 2012 after almost 20 years in the market, with new supercenters aimed in part at keeping rival Target Corp (TGT.N) at bay. But last quarter Wal-Mart's Canadian comparable sales fell.

The integration of Wal-Mart's 2012 acquisition of South Africa's Massmart chain is proving to be challenging because of the difficult economy there.

Cheesewright also will have to manage the fall-out from a U.S. Department of Justice probe into whether Wal-Mart paid bribes in Mexico to obtain permits to open new stores there, and whether executives covered up an internal inquiry into the payments.

The department is also looking into possible misconduct by the world's largest retailer in Brazil, China and India. Wal-Mart is also conducting an international probe. It has so far spent $300 million on the investigations and changes to its compliance programs.

The company is paying for lawyers to represent more than 30 of its executives involved in a foreign corruption investigation, according to people familiar with the matter, an unusually high number that shows the depth of the probe.

Cheesewright's successor as Canadian chief will be named at a later date, the company said.

Bentonville, Arkansas-based Wal-Mart's shares were down 0.75 percent Tuesday morning.