Tesco reports 55% fall in profits
07/10/2015
Supermarket giant Tesco has seen a fall in profits of 55% due to competition from discount stores and the ongoing supermarket price war.
Tesco saw underlying profits for the first part of the year fall to £354 million, which is 55% down on the same period last year when the results totalled £779 million. Its pre-tax profit was £74m, compared with a loss of £19m for the same period a year ago.
The fall comes after Tesco reported its worst results ever earlier in the year, when they recorded a statutory pre-tax loss of £6.4bn for the year to the end of February.
Tesco chief executive, Dave Lewis, is now concentrating on cutting prices and hiring more staff for the shop floor to attract more customers. He said:
"In the UK, we continue to improve all aspects of our offer for customers, resulting in volume growth which is allowing us to create a virtuous circle of investment.
"Our transformation programme in Europe has accelerated growth and reduced operating expenses, and in Asia, we have gained market share in challenging economic conditions."
The news of Tesco’s fall in profits comes after rival Sanisbury’s predicted better-than-expected full-year profits, but all four of the big supermarkets are still faced with pressure from discount retailers such as Lidl and Aldi.
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