FTSE 100 Live: AI boom continues, JD Sports update

Good morning from the Morning Wire liveblog team.

Among the least-desired accolades for a company chief executive is to see their firm’s share price rise the moment they announce their departure.

Unfortunately for him, the latest exec to have been dealt this honour is the boss of WH Smith, Carl Cowling, who yesterday watched the retailer’s stock surge more than six per cent after he told shareholders he was off.

The resignation came after a damning independent audit report by Deloitte found flaws in the operations of the firm’s North America division.

The Deloitte review found “insufficient systems, controls and review procedures for supplier income across commercial and finance functions” as well as “weaknesses in the composition of the finance team” and inconsistent accounting practices in the North America division.

The review was commissioned after WH Smith identified a major overstatement in supplier income, an admission which caused shares to tumble. The stock has sunk by almost 50 per cent since the start of the year.

Cowling, to his credit, did not try to shirk responsibility for the saga. “Whilst the issues identified in the Deloitte review arose in our North American division, I recognise the seriousness of this situation and as Group CEO feel it is only right that I step down from my position,” he said in a statement.

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