Britain’s biggest supermarket posts a 6.9 per cent fall in annual profit to £3.05bn – its second straight year of decline.
Tesco, which is the world’s third-largest retailer, said it expected tough trading to continue after posting its results putting continued pressure on embattled Chief Executive Philip Clarke.
Full-year group trading profit was down 6 per cent to £3.3bn, and like-for-like sales, excluding fuel and VAT sales tax, fell 3 per cent in its fourth quarter to February: the sharpest quarterly drop recorded during Mr Clarke’s three year tenure.
Tesco admitted that it had done worse than expected amid increasingly tough competition, saying: “Our performance in the year was not where we had planned it to be.”
Our performance in the year was not where we had planned it to be Tesco
UK sales fell by 0.1 per cent to £4.8bn, and Tesco warned that the challenging environment would continue in the current financial year.
The decline comes two years into a turnaround plan from Mr Clarke which, despite billions spent, has failed to stop its core British market share slipping to a near 10 year low under acompetition from budget brands Aldi and Lidl and upmarket grocers Waitrose and Marks & Spencer.
Mr Clarke said: “Our results today reflect the challenges we face in a trading environment which is changing more rapidly than ever before. We are determined to lead the industry in this period of change.”