LONDON (Reuters) - Richard Cousins, the current chief executive of Compass (>> Compass Group plc), the world's biggest catering firm, has ruled himself out of the running to succeed Richard Broadbent as chairman of Tesco (>> Tesco PLC), the troubled British grocer.

"I am 100 percent focused on Compass so I will not be taking the Tesco chair, I’m far too young," Cousins told Reuters on Wednesday after Compass posted results.

Cousins joined Tesco's board as a non-executive director on Nov. 1 and media speculation had linked him with taking on the chairman role next year.

Broadbent said on Oct. 23 he planned to step down in the wake of an accounting scandal at the firm.

(Reporting by Li-mei Hoang, writing by James Davey, editing by Louise Heavens)

Stocks treated in this article : Tesco PLC, Compass Group plc