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).

We know Dave Lewis can sell soap. Can he really run Tesco?
Guardian.com
July 27, 2014


Dave Lewis: once of Unilever, now of Tesco. Photograph: Russell Sach

Dave Lewis has sold a lot of soap. He's done it by convincing women that they're better looking than they think they are, with Dove's "love your body" campaign.

Now the 49-year-old Yorkshireman, who joined Dove-owner Unilever as a trainee in 1987, has got to work his magic again at Tesco.

The sudden axing of Philip Clarke as Tesco chief executive last week – on the day before a glittering party planned at the Victoria & Albert Museum to celebrate his 40 years at the supermarket – was not entirely unexpected, following increasingly poor performance from Britain's biggest retailer.

But the appointment of Lewis, president of Unilever's "personal care" business – soaps and deodorants including Dove, Lynx and Sure – stunned many experienced retail experts, who view it as a big risk to appoint someone with zero retail experience to the most powerful retailing job in the county. "I don't know anyone who knows him," says veteran retail consultant Richard Hyman. "It's come completely from left field. It's a real surprise that they have gone for a non-retailer, especially because all previous Tesco bosses have been born and bred Tesco."

A senior retail executive who knows Lewis well says: "He's a marketeer, so clearly that's where [the Tesco board] think their problems are. He's measured, balanced, thoughtful – not exactly charismatic".

Clarke was a Tesco lifer, having risen through the ranks from stacking Tesco's shelves in Liverpool to the boardroom and chief executive's office in Tesco House in Cheshunt, on the outskirts of London. Lewis, until now, has been a Unilever lifer: he joined Lever Brothers (a forerunner of Unilever) as a graduate trainee straight out of Nottingham Polytechnic (now Nottingham Trent) where he read business studies. Now he will be the first outsider to head the supermarket since Jack Cohen founded Tesco 96 years ago.

Tesco will want to avoid the fate of French supermarket giant Carrefour, which also looked to a consumer goods man to lead its turnaround. Carrefour's 2009 poaching of Nestlé's Lars Olofsson as chief executive was quickly followed by five profits warnings and Olofsson was shown the door. "I think he will struggle," the retailer said of Lewis. "A Unilever lifer thrown into the blood and guts of UK grocery retail. Never been a CEO, never been a grocer – hmm."

But drastic times – Tesco last month reported its biggest drop in sales in 40 years despite Clarke injecting £1bn to revitalise stores – call for drastic measures. In this case that means "drastic Dave", as Lewis was known after cutting more than 300 jobs when he restructured Unilever UK in 2007.

Sir Richard Broadbent, Tesco's chairman, said Clarke had been "hugely successful", but that the supermarket, which is losing customers to Aldi and Lidl at the lower end of the market and Waitrose at the upper end, needed "somebody with a fresh eye and the perspective to think more laterally and take a more decisive view of the business".

Clarke was given his marching orders last Friday night, before the supermarket's board met for an emergency meeting on Sunday night, and announced his departure at 7am on Monday morning, together with another profits warning. Not only was his V&A party cancelled, he also had to pull out of the annual Tesco charity golf day at the Royal Automobile Club's Woodcote Park course near Epson Downs Racecourse. Tesco royalty past and present, including former chairmen Lord MacLaurin and Sir David Reid, played on without him.

While the timing wasn't of his choosing, Clarke told the BBC he was "resigned" to his fate. He said that even his own father, a former store manager, regularly complained about the state of his local Tesco store in Liverpool.

Broadbent had been plotting to find a replacement for Clarke since Tesco's latest dismal trading update on 4 June. At the time, Clarke told reporters: "I'm not going anywhere" but conceded that the sales figures were the worst he had seen in his four-decade career.

Broadbent and Patrick Cescau, a senior independent director at Tesco and former Unilever chief executive, called in retail headhunter Patricia Tehan, of boutique firm Lygon Group. Lewis was top of her list.

Broadbent approached Lewis directly a couple of weeks ago, and Lewis said he wanted to take the job straightaway. He told Broadbent he knew there were would be difficult challenges ahead but he couldn't imagine anyone who wouldn't be interested in running such a historic business.

In early July, Broadbent told incoming finance director Alan Stewart of Marks & Spencer, who was appointed on 10 July, that he would be reporting to Lewis, not Clarke. Clarke, who will leave in October with a near-£4m payoff, was kept in the dark.

Broadbent dismisses suggestions that Lewis doesn't understand retail, pointing out that Lewis is well-known to many senior Tesco executives "over many years in his roles at Unilever", one of Tesco's biggest suppliers.

Lewis also rejects the criticism as unfounded and points out that he's worked closely with Unilever's retail customers around the world, and understands grocers intimately. According to Lewis's camp, Tesco is full to bursting with retail talent. What it needs is a turnaround man with a strategic mind and branding experience.

Lewis is currently working from his home in Weybridge, Surrey. The speed of his appointment means he has had little time to get acquainted with the business, its staff and portfolio of 6,784 stores worldwide. He has privately admitted that he has little idea what he's going to find when he gets behind his new desk in Cheshunt, but he has spoken to Clarke and other Tesco executives.

Lewis, whose career has taken him to South America, Indonesia, the US and central Europe, was widely seen as a potential successor to Unilever chief executive Paul Polman. He turned around Unilever UK and oversaw 27 consecutive quarters of growth in Britain, but admits he never expected to serve quite such a long term at Unilever.

"I came to Unilever to do two years and then go back to my own business," he said recently. "It's 27 years later, and I've shown a startling lack of ambition to do it."

Polman doesn't doubt Lewis's ambition and didn't try and talk him out of taking on the Tesco role.

"It is very hard to say don't take this wonderful opportunity," Polman said. "It's never easy if you become chief executive, and he has a big challenge. He is out there alone and it's a very high amount of responsibility given to him."

Lewis is well liked among FTSE 100 bosses, retail and otherwise, and has become firm friends with Jeremy Darroch, the boss of BSkyB and fellow Weybridge resident. He is a non-executive director of BSkyB. Andrew Higginson, a former Tesco director who is also on the BSkyB board, said: "Dave Lewis is a great hire for Tesco. He's a very seasoned and successful manager. He's got great values and will be very strong on sorting the strategy out."

The most common adjectives used by Lewis's friends to describe him are "dynamic", "serious" and "ambitious". He also has a social conscience. Friends point out that the Dove "real beauty" campaign he deployed was as much about "strong feelings about [women's] self-esteem" as it was about money. A friend says: "It is really important to him that his brands can have a social impact. It might sound hifalutin, but it's true." Advertising campaigns under his watch have won 50 Cannes Lions awards, the ad industry's top gongs.

Lewis also has a playful and athletic side: he ran the London Marathon in four hours 18 minutes, despite having not run further than three miles before deciding to take up the challenge. "With the race sponsor being Flora – a Unilever brand – I felt I had to give it a go," he said.

A close friend and retail boss says his new found athleticism (he also competes in the Unilever triathlon) doesn't cramp his party spirits.

"I've had a few good nights out with, and the headaches to prove it," the friend said. "However, he is quite sensible and naturally quiet. He doesn't do the 'big I am'.

Lewis isn't driven by materialism, a friend says. He is not a flash car man, unlike Ferrari-driving Clarke.

That may change with the £1.25m basic salary Lewis will collect when he takes over in October. He will also be handed £525,000 in lieu of his cash bonus from Unilever.

"He's closer to character to Terry Leahy," the friend says. "He's the ordinary Yorkshire lad who got on."

Clarke wasn't the only retail boss under pressure last week. Analysts say Morrisons' chief executive, Dalton Philips, and Marks & Spencer's boss, Marc Bolland, are both vulnerable following poor trading figures from their respective businesses.

"After the Tesco decision, if Morrisons doesn't deliver in trading then Dalton is next in line – and I don't think Marc is a million miles behind," one analyst said.

Morrisons, like Tesco, is suffering from the switch to online shopping and competition from Lidl and Aldi. Last month Philips warned that the discounters could take as much as a quarter of the grocery market if supermarkets fail to "face the brutal reality" of changes in the sector.

He likened the threat posed by discounters to the UK's big four grocers to the rapid growth of low-cost airlines in the 1990s. "Nearly 50% of the UK market now flies with these discount airlines because the legacy airlines don't react fast enough," he said.

In March, Morrisons issued a profit warning and unveiled plans to spend £1bn slashing prices over the next three years in an attempt to win back customers.

The management team, which presided over a 27% fall in the company's share price in the year leading up to the AGM, faced a significant protest from shareholders last month, with 15.4% voting against Philips's re-election and 12.3% opposing the re-election of the chairman, Sir Ian Gibson. Gibson resigned ahead of the meeting.

Sir Ken Morrison, the supermarket's founder, drew applause at the meeting for his attack on Philips and Gibson, whom he blamed for the company's "disastrous" results. After listening to Philips outline his strategy to modernise the Bradford-based chain, Morrison told the chief executive: "When I left work, I chose to raise cattle. I have something like 1,000 bullocks and, having listened to your presentation, Dalton, you've got a lot more bullshit than me."

Best Chosen Article Comment: "This chap sold Lynx. If you can sell Lynx you can sell anything."

Wouldn't be the least surprised if the share price went back to 160-ish levels!

Sharecast -

Tesco and Morrisons lose market share to discounters

Fri, 01 August 2014

Price: 6,674.33 Chg: -55.78 Chg %: -0.83% Date: 16:36

Tesco and Morrisons continue to bleed market share to competitors, such as discounters Aldi and Lidl or upscale chain Waitrose.

Thus, Tesco's market share decreased to 28.3% over the last 12 weeks from 29.7% and Morrisons fell to 10.9% from 11.4%, according to the latest data from Nielsen.

On this occasion, however, Sainsbury's managed to retain its 16.4% of the market.

ASDA, which is owned by US outfit WalMart, increased its share to 16.3% from 16.2% the month before.

The above follows figures out on Tuesday from Kantar Worldpanel which showed that Tesco's sales dropped by 3.8% over 12 weeks ending on 20 July, sending its market share lower by 1.4 percentage points to 28.9%.

The difficulty in turning around the company's deteriorating competitive situation led to the ouster of its chief executive, Philip Clarke.

He was replaced by Unilever's Dave Lewis, who as Brewin Dolphin analyst Nicla di Palma said, has ample knowledge of strategy in the 'fast moving consumer goods' space but none in direct retail.

Di Palma believes Tesco will most likely respond with further significant price cuts in order to close the gap with Asda, together with heightened investment in personnel costs.

That bodes poorly for operating margins, which may drop by 150 basis points. More significant changes cannot be ruled out.

The probability of a cut to Tesco's dividend has also risen notoriously. Nonetheless, a 'fresh' perspective may be just what the retailer needs, but there will be short term pain, di Palma concludes.

As of 13:03 shares of Tesco were 1.94% lower at 253p, although Morrisons stock was edging higher by 0.3% to 169.1p.

Sharecast broker tips -A dividend cut is looking "increasingly likely" at Tesco, according to broker Brewin Dolphin which downgraded its recommendation for the supermarket stock on Friday.

"We [...] believe that the probability of a dividend cut has increased significantly (it was 14.76p in 2013/14): a cut to 10p would save the company £400m and give additional firepower for the much needed store investments."

Juicy Tomatoes...............................................NOT.

Tesco best ever Chairman, bring back Ian.

It was fine whilst it lasted for Tesco and Ian, how every in my view he jumped before the ship hit the rocks because he saw it coming.

In my view Tesco became too greedy and shafted loyal customers with rip off prices and shady tactics, the customers are walking away to store chains that don't shaft them quite so bad.

As far as recovery goes, if they can't beat them, join them.

Get back to fundamentals i.e. stack it high sell it cheap.

Only way to compete with Aldi, lidl and the rest and in the middle plenty of pain for shareholder if they are stupid enough to try to weather it out through the continuing decline in sales and footfall.

Matching them like for like and being British is the key to a turnaround in my view.

It will take years to sort out.

Tesco was taken to the number one position by Ian Maclaurin and the team that worked for him. He retired at 60 having worked for Tesco for 40 years, like most board members did at that time. His predecessor Terry Leahy Is more arguably the man who jumped ship before any of his huge changes and foreign stores were put to the test. Tesco stores are not geared like the likes of Aldi so they will not be able to match like for like. Shoppers have gone away from the huge hyper stores that have far greater over heads than Aldi.
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End of the road for supermarket megastores? Retailers plan smaller sites as households ditch big weekly shop

By Rachel Rickard Straus

Published: 16:31, 4 August 2014 | Updated: 18:57, 4 August 2014





http://www.dailymail.co.uk/money/news/article-2715679/Death-supermarket-megastore-Plans-new-sites-drop-lowest-level-financial-crisis-households-ditch-big-weekly-shop.html

You're right, I was getting my CEO's muddled.

Looks crap whatever way you cut this though?

Samples of raw chicken bought at all the leading UK supermarkets and at butchers in spring of this year were tested.

The test found that 59% of birds carried the potentially deadly campylobacter bacteria, and 16% were heavily contaminated. More than two-fifths of retail chickens fell into the medium or heavily contaminated categories.

http://www.theguardian.com/society/2014/aug/05/majority-supermarket-chicken-contaminated-campylobacter-fsa

By the way, how about this:

Raymond Blanc has suggested that organic food is often overrated – while praising the fast-food chain McDonald's which he previously described as ‘killing people by encouraging obesity’.

“Organic should be best, but the reality of the world may be different,” he said.

“I used to hate compromise – compromise was evil because it’s the start of devaluing what you’re doing – but sometimes it is the only way. You can compromise without selling out.”

The French chef – who runs both the Michelin-starred Belmond Le Manoir aux Quat'Saisons in Oxford and chain Brasserie Blanc – attacked organic food for being “elitist” and “expensive”.

“Freshness is more important,” he said. “It is a mistake to say organic always tastes better. It depends on parentage. Some organics are simply terrible.”

His praising view of the fast food chain is a U-turn from his prior beliefs when he felt that the company “killed people by encouraging obesity”.

However, Blanc – president of the Sustainable Restaurant Association – presented McDonald's UK with a Sustainability Hero award earlier this year.

“I was amazed. All their eggs are free-range; all their pork is free-range; all their beef is free-range,” he told The Telegraph.

“[They show that] the fast-food business could change for the better. They’re supporting thousands of British farms, and saving energy and waste by doing so.

“I was as excited as if you had told me there were 20 new three-star Michelin restaurants in London or Manchester.”

Blanc received an OBE from the Queen in 2007 for his own culinary contributions.

From: http://www.hl.co.uk/news/articles/is-dave-lewis-the-right-man-to-lead-tesco

Is Dave Lewis the right man to lead Tesco?
by Charlie Huggins

Tesco recently announced that Philip Clarke, a 40-year veteran of the company, is to stand down as chief executive on 1 October. He will be replaced by Dave Lewis, a senior executive at Unilever, and the first outsider to the role in Tesco's near 100-year history.

The news comes as little surprise. Since assuming control of the group in February 2011, Clarke has overseen a dramatic fall in sales and profits, as competition in the UK grocery market has intensified. With Tesco seemingly stuck between a rock (the upmarket offering of Sainsbury's and Waitrose) and a hard place (the discount offering of Aldi and Lidl) the board clearly felt the time was right for a change of direction.

Three questions will now be at the forefront of shareholders' minds. Who is Dave Lewis? Is he the right man for the job? And what options does he have to turn the company around?

No news or research item is a personal recommendation to deal. All investments can fall as well as rise in value so you could get back less than you invest.

What do we know about Dave Lewis?
Dave Lewis is currently president of Unilever's Personal Care business and is a Non-Executive Director of British Sky Broadcasting.

A Unilever 'lifer', Lewis joined the firm as a graduate in 1987. He helped launch Dove soap in the UK in 1992, becoming Marketing Operations manager a year later. He then progressed to Marketing Director of River Plate (Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay) before assuming the role of Managing Director of Unilever Indonesia's personal care business. Against a challenging political and economic backdrop this business achieved average growth of 30% per year under his tenure.

After serving as Senior Vice President for Home and Personal Care, Central and Eastern Europe, for three years, Lewis returned to the UK in 2005, becoming Managing Director of the UK Home and Personal Care business; and later chairman of Unilever UK and Ireland. Dave Lewis was a key figurehead in turning around this ailing business, overseeing Unilever's transition from a company with three separate operations – foods, groceries and personal care – into a single unit, and laying a strong platform for future growth.

Dave Lewis was rewarded for his good work in 2010 by being appointed President of the Americas, before taking up his present role in 2011. Unilever's Personal Care business generated annual sales of around €20bn in 2013 and incorporates many high profile brands including Dove soap, Vaseline and TRESemme haircare.

Is he the right man to lead Tesco?
Dave Lewis is very highly regarded within Unilever and was seen as the internal favourite to become its next chief executive.

He has a CV stuffed with turnaround experience and heads the most profitable multi-category personal care business in the world, working with many brands sold in Tesco stores. This should stand him in good stead.

He also brings a wealth of international experience (in Asia, Americas and Eastern Europe). Tesco's overseas operations (accounting for around a third of sales) have struggled of late and are a key area of priority. Dave Lewis could be the man to give the company's flagging international operations a much-needed shot in the arm.

Perhaps of greatest significance is Mr Lewis' vast marketing experience. He has been responsible for some of Unilever's most successful marketing campaigns. Given Tesco's current 'identity crisis' they desperately need someone to reinvigorate the brand and restore customer loyalty.

There is, however, one large gap in his CV - he has no direct retail experience. This is somewhat of a gamble by Tesco's board and represents a large departure from Philip Clarke, a former shelf-stacker who knows the company inside out. That said, some may see Mr Lewis's lack of retail experience as an advantage - the industry is undergoing a period of substantial upheaval and a fresh perspective could be just what the doctor ordered.

What options does Dave Lewis have to turn the business around?
At this stage we can only speculate and it will probably be a number of months before we have a clear picture of the new chief executive's plans. He does, however, have several options at his disposal:

Cut prices to combat the threat of the discounters

Over recent years the discount retailers have made significant inroads into the UK grocery market. This has seen Tesco's market share fall from 31.8% at its peak in October 2007 to around 28.6% today.

Tesco share price, charts and research

To try and win back these customers Tesco's new CEO may decide to embark on aggressive price cuts (something Philip Clarke was reluctant to do). Tesco's size and dominance affords it higher profit margins than many of its rivals, giving it a degree of scope to reduce prices. This is likely to hit profits in the short term but if it gets sales moving in the right direction it could turn out to be a wise long-term strategy.

Take a knife to underperforming stores

One of the major problems Tesco faces is a substantial proportion of its sales still come from large, out-of-town stores. With more people choosing to shop online and via the convenience format, sales at its larger supermarkets have fallen sharply. Rather than filling space by introducing the firm's non-core café and restaurant brands to large stores, Dave Lewis could take much bolder steps such as reducing store size and letting the extra space to tenants, or shutting down stores altogether.

Slim down international operations

Tesco has already pulled out of the US and Japan, and Turkey is under review, but this could be extended to other struggling central European markets. This could free up cash to invest in the UK business or other international markets with more promising growth prospects.

Tesco could even go a step further and pull out of Europe completely. Trading margins are just 2.6% in Europe, around half that in the UK, so Dave Lewis may decide Tesco's efforts are better focused elsewhere. The difficulty might be finding a buyer.

Cut capital expenditure

Tesco spent almost £2.9 billion on capital expenditure in its 2013/14 financial year, representing 90% of net operating cash flow. That is a lot, even for a company the size of Tesco. The new chief executive may decide to tighten the purse strings and 'reinvest' these savings into lowering prices.

Cut the dividend

This certainly won't be a popular option but whenever a new management team comes in to revive a struggling business, the risk of a dividend cut is increased. Philip Clark was reluctant to cut the dividend, maintaining it for the last three years, despite falling sales. Although the dividend is reasonably well-covered by earnings at present, Mr Lewis may wish to free up some cash by cutting the dividend (though I would be surprised if he scrapped it completely).

It will be very interesting to see what route Dave Lewis takes and only time will tell whether he can turn the business around. If you want to stay informed on Tesco's progress make sure you sign up for our free share research updates.

The chicken supply chain is looking at how interventions such as improved biosecurity on farms, rapid surface chilling, and anti-microbial washes can help reduce campylobacter.

The low levels of contamination found on packaging, shown in the results released today, potentially indicate the effectiveness of the leak-proof packaging for poultry introduced by most retailers, which helps to reduce risks of cross contamination in consumers' kitchens.

The FSA said, "As soon as we have enough data to robustly compare campylobacter levels in different retailers we will share that data with consumers."

Chicken is quite safe as long as consumers follow good kitchen practice:

Cover and chill raw chicken - Cover raw chicken and store at the bottom of the fridge so juices cannot drip on to other foods and contaminate them with food poisoning bacteria such as campylobacter.

Don't wash raw chicken - Cooking will kill any bacteria present,including campylobacter, while washing chicken can spread germs by splashing

Wash used utensils - Thoroughly wash and clean all utensils, chopping boards and surfaces used to prepare raw chicken.

Wash hands thoroughly with soap and warm water, after handling raw chicken. This helps stop the spread of campylobacter by avoiding cross contamination.

Cook chicken thoroughly - Make sure chicken is steaming hot all the way through before serving. Cut in to the thickest part of the meat and check that it is steaming hot with no pink meat and that the juices run clear.

50% off all time high.

Going to have a small basket full.

Tesco's credit has been downgraded by one of the world's leading rating agencies, sending shares in Britain's biggest retailer slumping to a ten-year low. Standard & Poor's said it had cut Tesco's rating from BBB+ to BBB and warned the struggling supermarket that it had a "negative outlook" on its business, given the level of competition it faced in Britain from low-cost rivals. - The Times

Tesco shares hit 10-year low following S&P downgrading

Fri, 08 August 2014

Tesco shares reached their lowest point in a decade on Thursday, as Standard & Poor's (S&P) cut its rating on the supermarket's stock following last month's profit warning.

The profit alert was issued in July as David Lewis, president of Unilever's personal care division, was announcement as the replacement for outgoing chief executive Philip Clarke.

S&P cut its rating by one notch, claiming Tesco's profitability could weaken even further in 2015.

"The downgrade reflects our view that Tesco's profitability will continue to weaken because market competition in the UK will remain persistently high, and even intensify, over the next 12 months," S&P said in its research note.

"Tesco's market and financial positions have not tangibly improved, despite extensive restructuring and substantial spending on a long-term program to improve its stores and customer service."

Earlier this week, HSBC warned that Tesco needed to take "drastic" actions and that it could also cut its 2014 dividend by 50% to 7.25p.

"Tesco needs to take drastic action to protect its future. We believe that UK operating profits need to more than halve to give Tesco a base on which to grow," HSBC said in a statement.

Tesco shares have been in freefall in recent months and analysts are saying that Lewis will begin a massive deck-clearing operation once he's officially installed in his new role at the beginning of October.

Tesco chairmain Sir Richard Broadbent insisted he's confident about Lewis' ability to turn the company's fortunes around.

"Dave Lewis brings a wealth of international consumer experience and expertise in change management, business strategy, brand management and customer development," said Broadbent.

"He is already known to many people inside Tesco having worked with the business over many years in his roles at Unilever. The board believes that with Dave's leadership Tesco will sustain and improve its leading position in the retail market."

Tesco shares showed a slight sign of recovery on Friday and they were up 1.21% to 246.75p at 16:32.

All looks grim for Tesco, but I am in just on 50% rule of thumb for a short term trade.

Down by £10BILLION in a year - now Tesco's set to slash dividend

By Neil Craven, Financial Mail On Sunday

Published: 22:20, 16 August 2014 | Updated: 22:20, 16 August 2014

Tesco's stock market value has slipped below £20billion for the first time in a decade as fears mount that it is about to slash its dividend.


The supermarket group is now worth £10billion less than a year ago after its shares plunged as it struggled to kick-start a strategy to fend off the growth of discounters, led by German-owned Aldi and Lidl.


Now there are fears that the newly appointed chief executive Dave Lewis will need to raid the dividend to pay for a strategic overhaul when he arrives on October 1.





Every little helps: New boss Dave Lewis is likely to seek cost savings


+1
Every little helps: New boss Dave Lewis is likely to seek cost savings



Retail analyst Clive Black of stockbroker Shore Capital said: ‘Tesco needs to become more competitive in its core grocery market and this may involve a considerable profit margin reset.


‘The dividend costs £1.1 billion a year. We cannot rule out that it will be cut to contribute to an improved operating performance and comprehensive change programme.’





‘We expect a cut of between 25 and 50 per cent from new management depending on the amount Dave Lewis believes he needs to deliver medium-term growth,’ he said.


Tesco’s woes were compounded last night when it emerged that group operations development director George Dymond, poached from Morrisons earlier this year, has become the latest senior figure to leave the business.


His departure comes just weeks after Lewis was appointed to replace Phil Clarke and also follows the resignation of finance director Lawrie McIlwee in April.


Dymond joined Tesco after a fall-out with Morrisons over his job description. But he is now expected to return to his previous company, Coles, in Australia, in the pivotal role of merchandise director.
British-born Dymond will arrive at 741-store Coles ‘within the next few weeks’, a spokesman for Coles confirmed. There is also speculation that Coles chief executive Ian McLeod will return to Britain to head Morrisons.


Leading City analyst Nick Bubb said it looked increasingly likely that Tesco’s interim dividend would be held at 4.63p because it was ‘relatively small’. When the interim announcement is made it will be on Lewis’s first day in the job, he said.


But he noted that newly appointed finance director Alan Stewart is expected to arrive in December, giving the new team plenty of time to digest the need for a cut in the full-year dividend from 14.75p last year to ‘8p or 9p’ a share.


Other analysts are more circumspect, arguing that Lewis could try to maintain the dividend. David Payne at Nomura said it would be ‘uncharitable’ to assume that price cuts would be the first thing on Dave Lewis’s agenda and that other options could be open to stimulate sales before resorting to a new, costly escalation in the price war.


He cited Tesco’s strengths in online sales, the potential for selling non-food items online, ongoing reorganisation of its hypermarkets to offer other products and services, and a hoped-for polishing of the brand as factors that could all potentially boost the business.


Tesco declined to comment on the possibility the dividend might be cut. But one source close to the business said: ‘The dividend cover is still strong and is well ahead of peers, but it is premature to second guess what Dave might do before he even takes the reins in October.


‘It’s worth remembering that Phil Clarke said in April that the dividend had been held despite the changes that have taken place at the business over the past two or three years.’


The source said that the falling share price, illustrative of a new level of jitters among investors about the future of Tesco, meant the company was now worth less than the estimated £21 billion value pinned on Tesco’s huge property portfolio of stores and is ‘perhaps an indication that nervousness around future performance is a little overdone’.


Tesco’s market capitalisation was £30billion in October last year and first dipped below £20 billion on August 6. Though it nudged back up again on Friday, it was the first time it had sunk below that mark since August 2004.


Other supermarket stock prices have suffered similar fates. Morrisons’ value has dropped 39 per cent to £4 billion in the same period and Sainsbury’s, which has suffered the least so far, has seen its shares drop 22 per cent to £6billion.


Even upmarket Waitrose, which is owned by the John Lewis Partnership, has been affected and is expected to see its market share eclipsed by Aldi in the coming months.


Aldi and Lidl now attract almost 9.4 per cent of grocery spending compared to 6.2 per cent just three years ago. That and the crash in demand for non-food products at hypermarkets has disrupted the performance of larger chains.

From: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/11039210/Tesco-store-trashed-by-Gaza-protesters.html

Tesco store trashed by Gaza protesters

Demonstrators threw produce to the floor and shouted at staff and shoppers


Police officers were attacked and stock was thrown around during a protest at a Tesco store Photo: Caters

Police officers were attacked and stock was thrown around during a protest against the Gaza conflict at a Tesco store on Saturday.

Demonstrators, who want the supermarket to stop selling Israeli food, entered Tesco in Hodge Hill, Birmingham, threw produce to the floor and shouted at staff and shoppers.
Pictures show a large number of police officers at the scene and stock strewn across the floor of the store.

West Midlands Police said one person was arrested for assaulting its officers during the protest.

Speaking on social media, a customer said: "I was just in the Tesco in Hodge Hill, scanning my items and I heard chanting.

"Then a group of Asian men holding Palestinian flags came walking in and starting to push products over and getting aggressive with staff and shoppers. "Police officers tried to stop them but I ran out."

About 100 people had gathered outside the store to demonstrate, calling on Tesco to stop all trade with Israeli agricultural companies.

A spokesman for West Midlands Police said: "Our officers dealt with a protest at Tesco Hodge Hill this morning where some disorder was repoted. One arrested for assaulting police.

"The protest was largely peaceful among the 100 protesters but some began throwing stock inside Tesco store. Two escorted from premises."

A spokesman for Tesco said: "The demonstration took place mainly outside the store. There was some minimal damage to a few goods inside - police were on the scene and the store reopened after being closed for just a few minutes.”

Tesco's 6pc income vs the rest: Whose dividend is most at risk?

Tesco’s dividend is under threat, but how does it compare to rivals? We crunch the numbers


http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/personalfinance/investing/11044350/Tescos-6pc-income-vs-the-rest-Whose-dividend-is-most-at-risk.html

Trading Statement

The combination of challenging trading conditions and ongoing investment in our customer offer has continued to impact the expected financial performance of the Group.

The business continues to face a number of uncertainties, including market conditions and the pace at which benefits from the investments we are making flow through in the second half and consequently the Board has revised its outlook for the full year. We now expect trading profit for 2014/15 to be in the range of £2.4bn to £2.5bn. Trading profit for the six months ending 23 August 2014 is expected to be in the region of £1.1bn.

Dave Lewis will now join Tesco as Chief Executive on Monday 1 September. He will be reviewing all aspects of the Group in order to improve its competitive position and deliver attractive, sustainable returns for shareholders.

The Board is focused on maintaining a strong financial position in order to maximise its business and strategic optionality. Reflecting this and our current expectations for future performance, the Board anticipates that it will set the interim dividend at 1.16p per share - a reduction of 75% from last year's interim dividend.

In addition, we are implementing further reductions in capital expenditure. For the current financial year capital expenditure will now be no more than £2.1bn, some £0.4bn less than originally planned and a reduction of £0.6bn from the previous financial year. This will be achieved in a number of areas including IT and the slower roll-out of our store refresh programme.

Sir Richard Broadbent, Chairman, said:

"The Board's priority is to improve the performance of the Group. We have taken prudent and decisive action solely to that end. Our new Chief Executive, Dave Lewis, will now be joining the business on Monday and will be reviewing every aspect of the Group's operations. This will include consideration of all options that create value for customers and shareholders.

The actions announced today regarding capital expenditure and, in particular, dividends have not been taken lightly. They are considered steps which enable us to retain a strong financial position and strategic optionality."

Further details on trading performance will be provided as usual in our Interim results announcement, scheduled for release on 1 October.