Tesco is one of the worlds leading international retailers. Since the company first the trading name of Tesco, in the mid 1920s, the group has expanded into different formats, different markets and different sectors. The UKs leading retailer Tesco was floated on the stock exchange in 1947 and in 1995 took over rival Sainsburys position as the UK number one. The principal activity of the group is food retailing, with over 2,000 stores worldwide. Tesco has a long term strategy for growth, based on four key parts: growth in the Core UK business, to expand by growing internationally, to be as strong in non-food as in food and to follow customers into new retailing services. The company launched a home shopping service in 2000, allowing customers to order their shopping online. Tesco is now expanding its convenience stores and overseas into areas such as Taiwan, Malaysia, Poland, the US and Ireland.

Upper graph = 12 month share price with 6 month moving average
Lower graph = 12 month volume (red line = volume average).

Something afoot?

Must be this Bankers ready $8.35 billion debt financing for Morrisons sale

Tesco and Sainsburys both hit badly by the abysmal results from Morrisons.
I wasn't expecting such a fall on Tesco but a better buying opportunity for some. All depends upon how bad their results are when they announce on 16th April.
There was an article on Motley Fool on Tuesday ( Three good reasons to put Tesco in your Trolley) that made good sense.
With the share price down another 4% the yields get better.

Wasn't that long ago we were looking for £4........

Hmmm....now sub 300p. Might be worth a punt, but no knowing if results will be reasonable. Might have lost more market share to Aldi & Lidl.

And a two or three year price war from Morrisons and the rest forced to join.

Friday 21 March 2014

TESCO CONFIRMS JOINT VENTURE WITH TATA IN INDIA

Following its previous announcement and receipt of approval from the Indian Foreign Investment Promotion Board, Tesco has today entered into an agreement with Trent Limited, part of the Tata Group, to form a 50:50 Joint Venture in Trent Hypermarket Limited (THL) which operates the Star Bazaar retail business in India. Tesco's investment will be around GBP85 million.

Completion of this transaction is subject to other necessary approvals.

Notes to Editors:

-- On completion of the transaction THL will operate 12 stores retailing a range of merchandise including food and grocery, personal and home care products, home and kitchen, fashion and accessories etc. The stores are operated under the 'Star Bazaar' and 'Star Daily' banners, and spread across the Southern and Western regions of India.

-- Since 2008 Tesco has had a wholesale supply and franchise /technical service agreement to supply merchandise and provide technical knowhow and support to THL in India.

16 April 2014 Preliminary results announcement 2013/14.

Tesco Finance Director might be checking out

Thu, 03 April 2014

Some of the UK’s largest grocers have been having a hard time of it over the last few years, forcing management teams to rethink their strategies, be it due to the financial crisis, higher food prices (until recently), the advent of digital marketing and distribution strategies or failed adventures overseas, to name just a few of the sector’s woes.

Despite that, there are those who are keeping the faith. That is how some observers interpreted recent share purchases, on past February 17th, by the company’s Non-Executive Chairman, Sir Richard Broadbent.

On that occasion Broadbent added 10,000 shares to his stake at an individual price of 331.22p a piece, for a total spend of £33,122.

Time to leave?

Be that as it may, results do matter and shareholders’ patience has its limits. Thus, perhaps, Tesco’s finance director is set to resign as early as next week, just days before the firm reveals another sharp drop in its profits, next April 16th, the Financial Times reported on Thursday evening, after the close of trading.

In its most recent update the firm said it still expected to report full-fiscal year profits within the range of what were then the "current" market expectations, which it saw as being in between £3.16bn to £3.42bn.

Significantly, just over a month ago, on February 26th, Oriel Securities downgraded the food retailer to 'add' from 'buy' after the supermarket chain launched £200m of price cuts and said it was stepping up its store revamp programme.

High dividend yield not necessarily a good sign

The company’s plight is highlighted by the fact that its shares are now trading at its lowest levels in at least five years.

True, it is not alone, as Sainsbury’s or Morrison’s price graphs, for example, can attest. However, and as analyst Mike Dennis at Cantor Fitzgerald wrote to clients earlier today: "In contrast to Sainsbury’s we believe both Tesco and Morrison’s are still trying to cut significant costs and find a credible trading strategy to grow sales."

For the year ended on February 28th 2014 consensus pegs the retailer's pre-tax profits at £3.054bn on revenues of £61.163bn, placing the stock on a price-to-earnings multiple of 9.8 times and a dividend yield of 5%, according to data compiled by JCF Factset.

As ever, the question now for investors is whether that dividend yield reflects an undervalued stock or whether that pay-out will need to be adjusted downwards.

Hmmmm.

Tesco PLC - Directorate Change

The Board of Tesco PLC ("Tesco"), today announces that Laurie McIlwee, Chief Financial Officer and Executive Director, has decided to step down from the Board and resign from the Company but has agreed to remain in his role to ensure a smooth handover to his successor. The Board is commencing a process to find a new Chief Financial Officer with both internal and external applicants being considered.

Sir Richard Broadbent, Chairman, said,

"I would like to thank Laurie for his contribution to Tesco over the last 14 years. Together with Philip and the wider team, Laurie has played an important role in our process to transform Tesco and position it to be a winner in the new era of retailing. I and the Board wish him every success for the future. "

Laurie commented

"I am proud of what we have achieved at Tesco over the last few years. However, after 14 years at Tesco I feel that now is the right time for me to pursue new opportunities. I wish Philip and the team well and I am absolutely confident that Tesco will emerge from the current period of unprecedented change in the industry stronger than ever."

Tesco has to shrink the size of its stores. Todays shoppers do not have the time to shop in huge stores. Need to be more the size of Aldi etc. Clarke needs to let the floor space out, otherwise they are going to be left with huge white elephants. His strategy is all wrong, hence the finance director leaving. P.Clarke will resign and with having failed to turn Tesco round in the next six months or less. Their abroard sales/profit are not going to leave a nice taste.

Not sure I agree with you dc. Near me I am happy to pick up everyday items from the local shops (Tesco Express, Co-Op, Budgens and OneStop) but I still do the major shop for the bigger more expensive items at the local Tesco Superstore. I still think there is a demand for both, though my student lodgers often use on-line shopping, so may be walk-in stores are becoming less attractive for the younger shoppers.

Good to see your view Harry. Different perhaps Harry in different locations. The stores clearly need more than a lick of paint. Aldi have just opened after Christmas here in Bishops Stortford and the store is packed. At the end of the day Tesco and the likes of Sainsbury are losing market share. You have to ask why Justin King the Chief exec of Sainsbury has walked away after Christmas. They being the dominant large supermarkets in Britain have some serious head winds to address in the near future.

Aldi sales leap 35% as shoppers ditch the 'big four' supermarkets in their droves for discount rivals

Tesco expected to post £3bn profits compared to £3.2bn last year
Sales at market leader fall 3% in first 12 weeks of 2014
Aldi sees sales surge 35.3%, Lidl sales leap 17.2%
Morrisons sales fall 3.8%






http://www.dailymail.co.uk/money/news/article-2599650/Big-four-supermarkets-lose-market-share-discount-rivals-Aldi-Lidl-Tesco-gears-post-second-profits-fall-year.html

Former Tesco directors are “dismayed and angry” at the cull of senior talent at the retailer and fear that Philip Clarke, the Chief Executive, is driving the business “in the wrong direction”. A “whispering campaign” against senior staff including Laurie McIlwee, the outgoing Finance Director, and Matt Atkinson, the Chief Marketing Officer, has generated particular anger. “[Clarke] is just not good enough. He is doing serious harm to the business,” said one former director who worked at the supermarket group for two decades. – The Times

Final Results

HIGHLIGHTS

· £3.3bn trading profit - year-on-year decline reflects challenges in UK and Europe
· Final dividend maintained at 10.13p, giving full-year dividend of 14.76p (cover 2.1 times)****
· UK sales exc. petrol up +0.8%, with lower net new space contribution as planned
· Strong UK growth in online grocery +11% and Express LFL +1.1%
· UK LFL inc. VAT, exc. petrol (1.3)% held back by work on the transformation of general merchandise and a weaker and increasingly competitive grocery market in the second half
· Nearly 300 UK stores refreshed this year - typical sales uplift +3% to +5%
· Ongoing multichannel focus - grocery home shopping launched in five countries
· Consistent approach to capital discipline, returns and cash

scary that those terrible figures were actually better than expected

Take your pick :-)

Deutsche Bank Buy 293.80 293.80 348.00 342.00 Retains

JP Morgan Cazenove Underweight 293.80 293.80 - 250.00 Reiterates

Beaufort Securities Sell 293.80 293.80 - - Reiterates

Deutsche Bank.

Jedes bisschen hilft

Good couple of weeks for Tesco