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(Reuters) -Walmart Inc on Wednesday promoted Kathryn McLay, CEO of its Sam’s Club unit, to head its $100 billion international business at a time when high inflation has squeezed spending in many overseas markets.
McLay, 49, succeeds Judith McKenna, who is retiring. Mclay will take over on Sept. 11, 2023, the company said in a filing.
McLay, an Australian, joined the retailer in 2015 and has held high-level positions within Walmart (NYSE:WMT)’s U.S. supply chain operations and neighborhood markets business.
Before joining Walmart she worked at Australian retail chain Woolworths and Qantas airline.
“She’ll do a phenomenal job leading our International business,” Walmart CEO Doug McMillon wrote in a memo to employees.
McLay takes over a business spanning 19 countries, including China, where slowing economic growth has raised global concern. The international business generated $100.98 billion in sales in its most recent fiscal year ended Jan. 31, 2023.
McLay, a star within Walmart ranks, has managed to eke out positive sales in almost every category Sam’s Club sells in the U.S. for the last nine quarters, a period that included the pandemic, Piper Sandler analysts said in a research briefing.
“We believe that under Sam’s CEO Kath McLay, the business repositioned for growth,” Piper Sandler analyst Edward Yruma said.
For years, Walmart’s membership club Sam’s Club had been an underperforming business with muted sales growth until McLay took over as CEO in late 2019. Since then the $84 billion company has posted 12.7% average comparable sales growth, according to Reuters calculations .
“Walmart has a very strong, deep bench of talent and…the individual moving from Sam’s Club seems like she’s had a pretty good track record so far,” Edward Jones analyst Brian Yarbrough told Reuters.
“We don’t expect many changes in the overall outlook for the business or what they plan to do with the business moving forward,” he added.
Walmart also announced that Christopher Nicholas, currently chief operating officer of Walmart U.S., would replace McLay as CEO of Sam’s Club.
McKenna, 57, will spend time in a transitional role before retiring on Jan. 31, 2024, the company said in a filing. Walmart reports second-quarter results on Thursday.
