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).

he would of known for sure impossible for him not to - if he didnt which i dont believe he must have had his had his head stuck up his backside - the guy knew simple and if he didnt what was he doing there - twiddling his thumbs?! hmmmmmmmmm - on second thoughts...................

Agree gibby, hes like a rabbit been caught in the headlights. Off with his head. :-))

correct :-))))

'

Alright DC, just this once then, anything for a quite life.. I have a very close family member who used to work with the board.

Meant to put a board not the board, so pushed the edit button, thought thats what its for.

creeping back up today, 317p

slow but surely

Brokers' round-up, downgrade for Tesco and Sainsbury
StockMarketWire.com
Berenberg downgrades Tesco from buy to hold, target price cut from 490p to 360p.

Numis Securities upgrade TP 385p :-)

360.0 will do for me, could be a long wait though :O)

But relish the thought of all those rising dividends, Chris

380 be nice

crikey look at tsco sp - maybe worral thompson took more cheese than we realise???!!!

might even break 320 here tomorrow!! :-))

gibby please don't say those magic words (not) "I wouldn't want to be out of these overnight" :O)

well i wouldnt lol!!!

Tesco PLC, once the darling of the U.K. retail sector and a regular on
analysts' "buy" lists, has prompted investors to reassess its stock and the
sector as a whole after issuing its first profit warning in 20 years last week.

Shares of listed rivals Wm. Morrison Supermarkets PLC and J Sainsbury PLC
tumbled in the wake of Tesco's poor holiday performance, even though the firms
reported far healthier Christmas sales updates themselves. The supposed
defensive qualities of Britain's food retail sector in a downturn have been
left in doubt.

Tesco's woes are particularly specific to its U.K. business, which commands
just over 30% of Britain's food retail market. For the six weeks ending Jan. 7,
Tesco reported a 2.3% drop in sales at U.K. stores open at least a year. The
company also said it expects no growth in profit for the year ending February
2013.

In the cut-throat environment of an economic downturn that has forced
shoppers to seek out better value, Tesco's competitors have made improvements
to quality, service and pricing, grabbing market share and posting sales
growth.

In response to prolonged sales underperformance compared with its peers and
the pronounced Christmas slump, Tesco has vowed to invest hundreds of millions
of pounds in a major revamp of its U.K. business. This will, in turn, hit the
company's margins and profits and invariably change the sector's dynamics,
forcing competitors to respond with their own investments.

Before Thursday's warning, 64% of analysts rated Tesco a "buy." By Monday,
this had dropped to 38%.

Most analysts that downgraded Tesco called for investors to hold the stock
rather than sell it, as the market awaits the outcome of Tesco's investment.

Credit Suisse believes the fallout across the food sector will depend on how
successful Tesco's revamp is and how much its actions disrupt competitors.

The declines in Sainsbury and Morrison shares -- both companies fell more
than 5% last Thursday and have yet to recover -- indicate that investors
believe the grocery market will be affected by the largest player making bold
moves to regain share.

Morrison, the smallest of the big four supermarkets by sales, has now
overtaken Tesco as analysts' favored stock in the food retail sector. (Asda
Supermarkets, owned by Wal-Mart Stores Inc., is the No. 2 player by sales,
ahead of No. 3 Sainsbury.)

Deutsche Bank analysts have upgraded Morrison to "buy" from "hold."
Jefferies, which continues to have a "buy" rating on Morrison, said Thursday
that it views Morrison shares as remarkably oversold on Tesco's news. Credit
Suisse, which stuck to its rating of "outperform" on Morrison, said Friday that
"even in a very tough market and with Tesco investing heavily, [Morrison] is
primarily a stand-alone self-help story."

Standard & Poor's equity analyst James Monroe has downgraded Tesco to "hold"
from "buy," commenting, "Whilst we still see significant international growth
opportunities for Tesco, we await conviction that the U.K. strategy can return
business growth."

Analysts believe the wait-and-see approach is justified because Tesco doesn't
intend to provide in-depth information about its turnaround plans until its
full-year results are announced in April.

Evolution Securities analyst Dave McCarthy says Tesco's investment in quality
and service, rather than intense price cutting, "may suggest it is targeting
Sainsbury rather than Morrisons or Asda Supermarkets."

Despite posting the most robust holiday sales of the listed U.K. grocers,
Sainsbury hasn't yet convinced analysts, with most recommending a "hold" on the
stock.

Shore Capital analyst Clive Black believes the defensive characteristics of
the U.K. supermarket sector have been called into question by Tesco's profit
warning. He recommends a "hold" on all three stocks.

"The cost of competing in U.K. food retailing is rising," he says, adding
that Tesco's stock price, and the sector, will be in the doldrums until the
results of Tesco's investment, and competitors' responses, become clear.

omg - the blame for the decline of the high street bricks and mortar traders has been put at the door of the food retailers and now an anal-ist questions the defensive qualities of the sector.

unbelievable

certainly out of town superstores do indeed have a significant negative impact on town centre trade ...... personally, i try to shop as much as possible at my small indie food shops, which often offer better quality and, surprisingly to some, better value/price than the supermarket

This is true.