Thursday 23 April 2015

Every Loss Hurts

Tesco has reported the worst results in its history with a record statutory pre-tax loss of £6.4bn for the year to the end of February. That compares with annual pre-tax profit of £2.26bn a year earlier. It is the biggest loss suffered by a UK retailer and one of the largest in the country's corporate history. Around £4.7bn of the losses were the result of the fall in property value of its UK stores, 43 of which it said would close earlier this month. He added: "The results we have published today reflect a deterioration in the market and, more significantly, an erosion of our competitiveness over recent years." He said that he expected conditions in the coming financial year to remain challenging.