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).

Aldi boss insists 77% OF UK PRODUCTS ARE UK PRODUCTS

All they're meat products are supposed to come from a certain farm.......... you try and find it. It's a sham farm in name only.

I used their toilet the other day.. but only because I was bursting.

20 Mar
Credit Suisse
160.00
Underperform

(TSCO) - 22 Mar
Goldman Sachs
150.00
Sell


(SBRY) - 22 Mar
Goldman Sachs
205.00
Sell

(MRW) - 22 Mar
Goldman Sachs
190.00
Sell

Tesco's takeover runs into trouble: Top shareholders won't back £3.7bn deal for Booker cash and carry chain 
By Sabah Meddings For The Daily Mail
Published: 21:51 BST, 27 March 2017 | Updated: 21:51 BST, 27 March 2017


Leading shareholders in have called on Tesco bosses to abandon a £3.7billion merger with wholesaler Booker.
Fund giant Schroders, the grocer's third biggest shareholder, and US asset manager Artisan Partners have both delivered a stinging rebuke about the potential deal.
According to Schroders, the high price being paid for Booker will destroy value for Tesco shareholders – and it wants others to speak out.
It is not the first time Tesco has come up against opposition for the mega-deal, which would create a food distribution giant responsible for £53.2billion of annual sales. 

Weeks before the deal was announced, the grocer's non-executive director Richard Cousins surprisingly resigned.
At the time little explanation was offered, but it was later revealed Cousins, who is chief executive of food group Compass, was opposed to the merger. 
He was seen as key in helping the firm trim down the bloated business. But after discovering that Tesco chief executive Dave Lewis wanted to spend billions expanding again, he quit the board.

Now, in the latest attack, Schroders has written a letter – seen by the Daily Mail – to Tesco chairman John Allen urging him to pull out of the merger.
'All management teams believe that their acquisitions will create value,' it said. 'However, there is compelling academic and empirical evidence that, on average, acquisitions destroy value for acquiring shareholders.
'The high price being paid for Booker makes the destruction of value even more likely [than in an average deal].'

Tesco also said it had agreement from the whole board, however Nick Kirrage, Schroders' fund manager, pointed towards Cousins' departure, and said: 'Clearly it didn't. 
'We can imagine how difficult it was for Cousins to resign, surrounded by very senior peers. We would give Richard a huge amount of credit for letting his conscience be his guide.
'Tesco is paying an incredibly high price for the acquisition. History suggests the majority of all acquisitions that go ahead, despite all the optimism, fail to create value for the business. Paying 23 times the peak profit of Booker is too high a price.'
In the merger the firms say that with more buying power, they will be able to get better prices for their customers.
But it will push Tesco back into the restaurant market, just after the supermarket giant sold the Giraffe restaurant chain and the Euphorium bakery business.
Daniel O'Keefe, who manages Artisan's global value funds, told the Financial Times: 'The company basically imploded before Dave Lewis began a journey of simplifying, refocusing on the UK.
'We just don't understand, in a business as fragile as retail, why on earth would we risk distracting ourselves from that huge goal.'
The broadside by Schroders and Artisan Partners makes the Tesco and Booker deal the latest take-over bid to be put under scrutiny. 
Tomorrow the £21billion German takeover of the London Stock Exchange by the Deutsche Boerse is likely to collapse.
Last night Tesco did not respond to requests for comment.

Massive fine

£235m fine

Any Club card points too .

lol

I wouldn't be shocked and stunned to see the sp rise up to preliminary results, happens most years, i just can't be arsed this year not to put toooo fine a point on it. Ten year downtrend and every year hope springs eternal for about five minutes. Lob another 100K in TANK fill your boots LOL!!!

12th April.

Sharp drop coming on... 187p now.

Rumours about - Lewis might be leaving.

This is money - Will Lewis hang around? Beady headhunters are already drawing up their lists of replacements for his old Unilever boss Polman, who's rumoured to be nearing the end of his tenure.
Scribbled at the top there's likely to be the previously unknown name of Dave Lewis

Well shock horror sp rising. Guess what first in the que ( bugger to spell ) to short

Qué? You mean Queue or cue :-)

jp closed all its shorts

Do you feel lucky....

Tesco looks to strong results to calm Booker discontent

Preliminary Results

Headlines
Growth in sales2, volume, profit3 and cash4
· Group sales2 up 4.3% to £49.9bn

· UK like-for-like sales6 up 0.9% - first reported full-year growth since 2009/10; UK food LFL up 1.3%

· Positive volume growth in both UK & ROI and International

· Group operating profit before exceptional items3 up 30% to £1,280m; UK & ROI up 60% to £803m

· Step up in Group operating margin3 from 1.8% to 2.3%; on track for 3.5-4.0% ambition by 2019/20

· Retail operating cash flow4 up 9% to £2.3bn

· Net debt4,5 of £(3.7)bn, down 27%; £1.9bn of debt repaid within the year

· Statutory revenue up 3.7% to £55.9bn; PBT down year-on-year after £(235)m exceptional charge booked post year-end following our agreement with SFO and FCA7

Six strategic drivers guiding our actions
· Brand health8 at strongest level in five years

o Further improvement in core offer, including c.£300m investment in seven exclusive fresh food brands in March 2016, contributing to sustained market outperformance in fresh food

o Price of typical basket down 6% since Sept 2014; promotional participation down to 32%

o Most improved food retailer for quality perception; record rating for staff helpfulness at 80%

o Availability at record high; simpler range with 24% net reduction over two years

· Cost savings of £226m already achieved towards £1.5bn medium-term target; FY savings of £455m

· Generated £2.3bn retail operating cash; £0.4bn underlying working capital9 inflow

· More efficient mix across channels & products; improved service model in 1,500 stores

· Released £0.5bn value10 from property; 1.0m sq. ft. space re-purposed; 16 stores re-purchased

· Innovated to remove 14bn calories from soft drinks in two years; food donations up 148% as FareShare FoodCloud now in all large UK stores; PayQwiq digital wallet used once every 5 seconds

Dave Lewis, Chief Executive:
"Today, our prices are lower, our range is simpler and our service and availability have never been better. Our exclusive fresh food brands have strengthened our value proposition and our food quality perception is at its highest level for five years. At the same time, we have increased profits, generated more cash and significantly reduced debt.

We are ahead of where we expected to be at this stage, having made good progress on all six of the strategic drivers we shared in October. We are confident that we can build on this strong performance in the year ahead, making further progress towards our medium-term ambitions.
On top of this, our proposed merger with Booker will bring together two complementary businesses, driving additional value for shareholders by realising substantial synergies and enabling us to access the faster growing 'out of home' food market."

more.....