Tesco to cut up to 10,000 jobs - Sunday Telegraph

(Adds Tesco declines to comment, Sky (Other OTC: BSYBF - news) report on chairman)

LONDON, Feb 15 (Reuters) - Britain's biggest supermarket Tesco (Xetra: 852647 - news) could cut up to 10,000 jobs as part of its attempts to halt a slide in profits, The Sunday Telegraph newspaper reported.

The newspaper said up to 6,000 positions would be cut from Tesco's head offices and the stores it has said it plans to close. The rest would come from an overhaul in the way it runs its stores, including eliminating managerial roles.

A spokesman for Tesco declined to comment.

Chief Executive Dave Lewis has started cutting costs, with the announcement in late January that up to 2,000 people could lose their jobs with the closing of 43 stores. It is also making savings by consolidating its head offices.

Tesco recently returned to sales growth for the first time since January 2014, suggesting attempts by Lewis to restore an image dented by a price war with discounters and an accounting scandal may be bearing fruit.

Sky News reported on Sunday that the grocer has also approached Archie Norman, a former chief executive and chairman of Tesco rival Asda, to replace Richard Broadbent as chairman.

Broadbent said last October he would step down once a new management team had established itself and a new business plan was in place.

The supermarket is keen to appoint a replacement by the end of the month, and is also talking to John Allan, previously chairman of Dixons Retail, Sky reported, citing a person close to the process.

Tesco declined to comment on the Sky report.

(Reporting by William Schomberg and Paul Sandle; editing by Gunna Dickson and Susan Thomas)