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).

RNS Blackrock < 5%.

I've a largish lump of these - currently under water.

I did sell some recently and bought SSE near its 12 month low, but will hold the remainder.

Every little helps!

Tesco crowned cheapest supermarket for Christmas

LONDON (Reuters) - Britain's main equity index fell on Tuesday, with major supermarket groups hit by fresh signs of a loss of market share, while uncertainty over future U.S. monetary policy also weighed on the stock market.

Supermarket retailers joined the FTSE's loserboard after a survey by market researcher Kantar Worldpanel showed over half of Britain's households had shopped at German discount grocers Aldi or Lidl in the past 12 weeks.

The data showed that the UK's "big four" supermarkets - Tesco , Sainsbury , Wal-Mart's Asda and WM Morrison - had continued to lose market share.

Shares in Sainsbury fell 4.3 percent to the bottom of the FTSE 100 index while WM Morrison dropped 2.9 percent and Tesco weakened by around 2 percent.

"The top supermarket firms are losing market share at the bottom end to Aldi and Lidl, and losing out at the top end to Waitrose," said Hartmann Capital trader Basil Petrides.

Clarkes head is going to roll. :-)) Jack Cohen's business motto was "pile it high and sell it cheap", to which he added an internal motto of "YCDBSOYA" (You Can't Do Business Sitting On Your Arse) which he used to motivate his sales force. They have taken their eye off the ball and watched others pinch the business.

They'll probably roll out new fake price roll backs! Ever wonder why these supermarkets NEVER announce price rises!

Yes, But was that when they were private?

You must not lose market share. Tesco have got a army surrounding them in all directions. Asda seems to want a price war, Sainsbury quietly nibbling away and the likes of Aldi.

But surely all the supermarkets have lost market share over the recession as people seek out better value at the pound stores and the cheaper supermarkets? When the 'feelgood factor' starts to kick in and people feel that their income will support a move upmarket, the main supermarkets should see a resurgence in footfall and probably start to claw back the lost revenue.
Slightly worryingly, last week's IC had an article which suggested that most of Tesco's woes came from their ventures abroad which had failed (China, U.S. etc). Seems that the UK is contributing substantially to the poor performance.

What type of customer has Tesco drawn with the pile it high sell it cheap, you can guess without me putting the words. Waitrose is gaining market share. Perhaps due to the class of people who shop with them. They perhaps have a higher budget to spend on food. Sainsbury may have lost market share but in my view not to the extent of Tesco.
There is a video on u-tube. Ian McLaren(The chairman before Terry Leahy ) talks of taking the old man Jack the founder to the first ever superstore, just before he died. On seeing the store a tear poured down his face. He died a day later.
Not the vision he had for Tesco. Have the big stores come around to haunt Tesco?
These Aldi etc are small stores and very much in town. Should Tesco have sold of its medium stores in the past ? Looks like we are back to the start of the cycle ?

Stop to entry for risk free trade.

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Pressure mounts on Tesco’s chief Philip Clarke to deliver the goods at Christmas

TESCO boss Philip Clarke has been warned by major shareholders that his job will be in the firing line if the firm fails to deliver over Christmas.

http://www.express.co.uk/finance/city/448796/Pressure-mounts-on-Tesco-s-chief-Philip-Clarke-to-deliver-the-goods-at-Christmas

Out the spreads (for now) @ 332.5 + 7.5 Merry Xmas

Property Sale and Leaseback Transaction

Tesco has today confirmed the successful completion of a sale and leaseback transaction in South Korea. Homeplus Co. Ltd, a wholly owned subsidiary of Tesco Plc, has concluded the transaction with Samsung SRA, a real estate fund manager focused on commercial real estate in Korea and overseas.

The deal comprises a portfolio of four Homeplus stores and accompanying mall space, with total gross proceeds in excess of £355 million.

Following the successful sale and leaseback of four Homeplus stores in August 2012, this announcement further demonstrates the underlying value of our operations in Korea and the attractiveness of our property and business to investors.

Deutsche Bank Buy 330.50 330.50 386.00 386.00 Retains

Trading statement thurs.,.

Christmas & New Year Trading Statement

· Further weakness in the UK grocery market contributed to a decline in UK like-for-like sales performance

· Continued investment for customers, reflecting our determination to provide the most compelling Christmas offer:
o Over £1bn taken in the five days before Christmas, including our biggest trading day
o Strong own-brand offer, outperforming branded products
o No.1 retailer in Grocer 33 Christmas basket challenge

· Increasingly multichannel Christmas for the retail sector, with Tesco playing a leading role:
o £450m UK online sales in just six weeks, up 14%
o Over 3 million online grocery orders, up 11% and 1.5 million online GM orders, up 25% Positive LFL sales growth in Express convenience store business
o Recently refreshed large stores also continuing to significantly outperform

· Improving performance in Europe, with recent political disruption in Thailand weighing on Asian performance

more...

Buffett will not be happy, can be further unwinding his position.

MRW the one to watch methinks!

What is your reasoning SK.? I think all of them are taking a beating from Aldi and Lidl. who have upped their game in recent years.