Connect : Moneysupermarket brings on John Lewis's retail director as CEO

(Reuters) - Price comparison website Moneysupermarket.com Group Plc (>> Moneysupermarket.Com Group PLC) said it had appointed Mark Lewis, the retail director of British department store chain John Lewis, as its chief executive officer.

Lewis, who has worked as UK managing director and European director of marketplaces at eBay Inc (>> eBay Inc), will take over from Moneysupermarket's outgoing chief Peter Plumb on or before May 4.

Moneysupermarket.com, which calls itself the largest price comparison website operating in the UK, said in August that Plumb would step down by May next year, but did not cite any reasons for his departure.

Lewis has also been director of online operations at John Lewis and chief at Connect Group Plc's (>> Connect Group PLC) parcel delivery service Collect+.

Lewis's experience as online director, where he oversaw an online upgrade, will prove important for MoneySupermarket as the company investments in its technology to grow and protect its margin, Liberum analysts wrote in a note.

"Lewis's experience in online upgrades gives him the relevant experience to maintain MoneySupermarket's current strategy of implementing their technology stack," the analysts said. The brokerage has a "hold" rating on the stock.

The group, which started as a mortgage listings firm in 1993, said in August that it had spent 10.4 million pounds on technology development in the six months ended June 30.

The spend is part of a three-year plan, focussing on developing Moneysupermarket's data asset, building an aggregation engine and upgrading customer experience.

RBC Capital Markets analysts viewed the hire positively, adding that Lewis has a strong CV and his appointment removes uncertainty regarding the leadership of the company. The analysts have an "outperform" rating on the stock.

MoneySuperMarket.com shares were up 0.82 percent at 267.5 pence at 0743 GMT, outperforming the Stoxx Europe 600 Eur Price Index <.STOXX>.

(Reporting by Noor Zainab Hussain in Bengaluru; Editing by Sunil Nair and Vyas Mohan)