Sainsbury's names Poundland boss as new finance chief

LONDON (Reuters) - British supermarket group Sainsbury's (SBRY.L) has appointed the boss of discount retailer Poundland as its new finance chief, it said on Monday.

Kevin O'Byrne, the current chief executive of Poundland, will join as chief financial officer on January 9. Britain's second largest supermarket group said.

O'Byrne is a former CEO of Kingfisher's (KGF.L) B&Q home improvement chain and finance director of electricals chain Dixons Retail.

He joined Poundland as CEO only in July. However, by then the firm was already being pursued by South African group Steinhoff (SNHG.DE). Steinhoff took over the discounter for 610 million pounds in September.

The appointment follows the move of John Rogers from the role of Sainsbury's CFO to chief executive of Argos. Sainsbury's bought Argos parent Home Retail for 1.4 billion pounds in September.

Sainsbury's, which is due to publish interim results on Wednesday, said Ed Barker will continue as interim CFO until O'Byrne joins the business and will retain a role at the firm.

(Reporting by James Davey; Editing by Keith Weir)