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).

Well, there's some good news for Tesco!

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/shopping-and-consumer-news/11257553/Asda-exposed-as-supermarket-with-dirtiest-chicken.html

Former Tesco boss Sir Terry Leahy defends his tenure insisting it had not grown 'too big' and he is shocked at its downfall


http://www.dailymail.co.uk/money/markets/article-2850702/Former-Tesco-boss-Sir-Terry-Leahy-defends-tenure-grocer-insisting-not-grown-big-helm.html

Week ahead: Tesco, Betfair, Chancellor’s statement
By Andrew Neil
November 30 2014, 7:00am
Week ahead: Tesco, Betfair, Chancellor’s statement


The first week of December is packed full with company announcements, central bank meetings, major economic data releases including the US non-farm payrolls and, in the UK, the Chancellor’s Autumn Statement on Wednesday.

Tesco (LON:TSCO) supermarkets bore the brunt of Black Friday chaos as shoppers clashed over bargains.

Things should be a lot calmer when the UK grocer puts out a trading statement on Wednesday.

Even so, the business is still battling an accounting scandal and a severe slowdown in sales at home.

With new chief executive Dave Lewis on board, plans to restore reputation and deleverage the balance sheet are underway.

Could now be the right time to buy Tesco? Not according to JP Morgan Cazenove, which has reiterated its ‘underweight’ stance on the stock.

The broker has a target price of 145p, with shares currently trading around 180p.

My wife tells me, that Philip Schofield revealed on 'Loose Women' today, how he and his wife nearly called their new baby girl,"Tess".

And then they realised..............

How she could have easily then been called, "Tesco Field".

Suspended Tesco executive to return as Dave Lewis overhauls team

Supermarket's new chief executive to take direct control of Tesco in the UK while four of suspended executives leave





Tesco boss Dave Lewis takes charge of struggling UK business

Tesco suspended eight executives after discovering a blackhole in its account Photo: PA


By Graham Ruddick

5:11PM GMT 01 Dec 2014



One of the eight Tesco executives suspended after the discovery of a black hole in the company's accounts is to return to the retailer.


Matt Simister will return as food sourcing director after Dave Lewis, chief executive, said Tesco's investigations found that Mr Simister had actually "worked tirelessly to resolve the issues we faced".


The return of Mr Simister, confirmed in an email to staff, was revealed as Mr Lewis announced a shake-up of the senior team, including putting himself in charge of the UK business.


However, while Mr Simister will return, four of the suspended executives will leave Tesco.


It is understood that Chris Bush, the former managing director of Tesco, Kevin Grace, the former commercial director, Carl Rogberg, the ex-UK finance director, and John Scouler, the UK food commercial director, have left Tesco.


The company confirmed that four of the executives had left Tesco after a "clear and impartial process", but declined to say which. It is understood that Dan Jago, William Linnane, and Sean McCurley remain suspended.

Mr Lewis has put himself directly in charge of the company's struggling UK business as he attempts to reverse a fall in sales.

The other changes include Jason Tarry, previously the boss of clothing arm F&F, becoming head of commercial for the UK and the group.

Other changes include Robin Terrell, who has been running the UK business in the absence of Mr Bush, becoming head of customer while Jill Easterbrook, the chief customer officer, will lead a business transformation programme. Benny Higgins, who runs Tesco Bank, will also take on responsibility for group strategy.

As a result of the changes, Tesco said that two roles will no longer be needed. These are Matt Atkinson's position as chief creative officer and David Hobbs' as group business planning and strategy director.

The changes will take effect from January 1, after the key Christmas period.

In the email confirming the return of Mr Simister, Mr Lewis said: "I am delighted to announce that Matt Simister will return to his role as group food sourcing director.

"We asked Matt to step aside to facilitate our recent investigation into commercial income recognition.

"During our work it became clear that Matt, in fact, worked tirelessly to resolve the issues we faced. Matt is one of our most capable leaders, and I am confident his leadership will support our agenda in commercial going forward.

"Finally, Matt's conduct and contribution during our investigation was exemplary and I'd like to personally thank him for that."

Trading Update

In recent weeks we have implemented new policies and procedures which will govern our commercial income activities and taken actions to invest in and improve our customer offer.

In our interim results on 23 October we highlighted that full year profitability would be impacted by actions we may choose to take and that the commercial income overstatement would affect second half results as we revisited our plans with the new management team

Our new Commercial approach will underpin stronger long-term relationships with our suppliers, benefiting customers, whilst at the same time ensuring that revenue recognition is transparent and appropriate. We have retrained our entire team and begun the cascade with our suppliers.

In addition, we have invested further in service, with more than 6,000 new colleagues in store, increased product availability on key lines and invested in price - all aimed at enhancing our customer offer. The early feedback from customers is encouraging.

On the 8th January we will share more detail about the measures we plan to take to improve the competitiveness of the UK customer offer and to strengthen the balance sheet. On the basis of the changes and investments made to date we now anticipate group trading profit for the financial year ending February 2015 will not exceed £1.4billion.


Dave Lewis, CEO said:

"Tesco is focused, and will continue to focus, on doing the right thing for customers. This means running our business in a way that everything we do creates sustainable value. Whilst the steps we are taking to achieve this are impacting short-term profitability, they are essential to restoring the health of our business. We will not engage in short term actions that compromise in any way our offer for customers.

We still have much to do but are making good progress in developing our plans to improve the long-term positioning of the Group and I will share more of that on the 8th January. Our priorities remain restoring competitiveness in the UK, protecting and strengthening the balance sheet and rebuilding trust and transparency. For now, all the Tesco team is focused on delivering the best Christmas for customers."

Interesting that MRW is also in auction!

DailyMail





SIMON WATKINS: Prepare for revolution in the aisles as Tesco scraps supplier fees

By Simon Watkins for the Daily Mail

Published: 22:03, 13 December 2014 | Updated: 22:03, 13 December 2014



Tesco's rivals would be forgiven for having enjoyed a moment of schadenfreude when the group was forced to admit a huge £260million error in its profits. But it looks like that blow to Tesco could now end up spreading to the supermarket sector as a whole.

Drastic Dave, as Tesco’s new chief executive Dave Lewis is known, could be about to shake up the sector more significantly than anyone could have guessed. Scrapping the system of hidden fees and charges on suppliers that lay at the root of the profit error, is a dramatic move and one that could force others to follow suit.

Two months ago The Mail on Sunday reported how Britain’s supermarkets derived as much as one third of their profits from these fees, which involve charging suppliers for everything from late delivery to flat fees just to get their products on the she

+2

Overhaul: Tesco’s new chief executive Dave Lewis could be about to shake up the sector more significantly than anyone could have guessed

Abandoning this system will amount to a revolution in the way supermarkets work. It will involve huge initial costs – Tesco itself is expected to make a loss in Britain next year as a result. It would costs rivals heavily as well.

Dave’s gamble is that a similar model in which supermarkets buy goods from suppliers, add a few pence for profit and then put them on the shelves will be more sustainable and indeed fairer. It is, of course, what most of us thought was going on already.





More...
• Supermarkets reeling as Tesco scraps supplier fees: Shift in strategy to price-cutting forces rethink among key rivals
• TESCO SHARES: Check the latest price here

The model of a complex range of fees imposed on suppliers – know euphemistically in the business as ‘back margin’ – has emerged as the dirty secret of the whole retail supply chain. The scandal of Premier Foods’ demand for fees for suppliers, also first reported in The Mail on Sunday last year, is another example.

Tesco’s move to abandon this model altogether is courageous. It is not without risks: it will require widespread renegotiation of terms with suppliers not all of which will necessarily go Tesco’s way. But if rivals do find they have to follow suit, then Dave will have managed to turn an accounting disaster into a positive by giving Tesco the advantage for being first mover in a supermarket revolution.

There may, however, be losers among smaller suppliers. These are often the companies that have been asked to pay one of the fees to get on supermarket shelves. Without those kinds of fees, will Tesco be able to justify stocking those products?

Supermarkets in the future may have to stock a narrower range of products in order to be able to offer the prices that customers are willing to pay.

Supermarketing is now in the midst of a major revolution in its business model. It is going to be painful for the companies and their shareholders. But I think there is every chance it will mean better value for shoppers

Tesco's accounts black hole may be bigger than thought, suggests JP Morgan


http://www.proactiveinvestors.co.uk/companies/news/75513/tescos-accounts-black-hole-may-be-bigger-than-thought-suggests-jp-morgan-75513.html

Sharecast - Tesco's suppliers to be involved in SFO investigation

Sun, 21 December 2014


Some of Tesco's suppliers are to be involved in the Serious Fraud Office's investigation over the stricken retail giant's accounting practices.
The likes of Unilever and Diaegeo are set to be dragged into the investigation, with the SFO expected to interview staff of Tesco's providers as well as examine the documentation associated with the supermarket's supplier agreements.

According to the Sunday Telegraph, the latest development in the SFO's investigation on Tesco will be implemented in 2015 and underlines the size of the scandal involving one of Britain's biggest retailers, which reported a £263m black hole in profits earlier this year.

The deficit was linked to the group's commercial income, which is made up of payments and rebates from suppliers, and after conducting an internal investigation the retailer is understood to believe that a "small group" of people within the company deliberately misled its auditors and accountants to inflate its financial results.

Four Tesco executives have already left the retailer in the wake of the scandal.

Tesco's auditor under investigation by industry watchdog

By John Harrington

December 22 2014, 12:08pm
Tesco’s auditor, PwC, said it would co-operate fully with the FRC’s investigation
Tesco’s auditor, PwC, said it would co-operate fully with the FRC’s investigation


Tesco (LON:TSCO) is facing more turmoil after the Financial Reporting Council (FRC) launched an enquiry into the supermarket giant’s accounts.

Accountancy watchdog FRC is focusing on accounts for the years 2012, 2013 and 2014, following revelations earlier this year by the company’s new chief executive that it had misled the market by overstating profits.

In preparing its interim results, the group became aware that guidance issued in a pre-close statement in respect of its half-year profits had been too high by more than £250mln, due to the accelerated recognition of commercial income and delayed accrual of costs.

Tesco’s auditor, PwC, said it would co-operate fully with the FRC’s investigation. Tesco, meanwhile, said it would provide support for the enquiry.

i wonder what the underlying value of tesco's property bank is, for i assume many of their sites are freehold

if the shops then turn in a profit of whatever it is - £1bn+ even now from memory - you then take your pick on whether to buy or to short, both having respectable cases if, like me, you think there are yet more skeletons to be revealed

Tesco has done a lot of sale and leasebacks, so I suspect that a lot of its portfolio is leasehold (at market rents) rather than freehold.

My concerns - The out of town stores are fast losing value . Sainsbury took a £663 million hit on its property portfolio. Also very concerning
the groups pension deficit ballooned by £800 million since February to £4.2 billion.

Tesco are sitting on about £15.9bn of operating lease commitments. This is fine as long as the store stays profitable. The property hit for Tesco could be HUGE. Should be declared in the April Finals.

In my local store the staff do seem to be happy and have a renewed sense of purpose. I read into this, that they do believe in what Lewis is doing and trying to achieve. There is truly tons of happiness and buzz about the place.

In my local Morrisons the quality of goods seems to have gone downhill with the competitive approach to pricing. The staff have put into effect lots of changes and improvements and do seem to believe in their management, though.

I have found out that Sainsbury's start their Sale on Christmas Eve. Starting with their persistently poor attitude towards their Customer's toilets, I've never had a lot of respect for their site management and staff. I very often find they have under-ordered and run out of fresh produce too. Accordingly, many visits have been literally 'fresh fruitless'.

Aldi: What a tip! The store can't hold what the buyers are sending/bringing in. The floor staff just cannnot cope! I've seen fresh and frozen meat staying in cartons on the store floor instead of in the chiller and freezer cabinets for our whole visit to the store. Indeed, they just haven't room on the shelves, the floor is just piling up with full and empty boxes and the prduct wastage is going to be terrible and massively high! The staff are too overworked and too hassled to care! There are lots of bottles of expensive wines on the shelves (£10-£25 per bottle) that simply are just not selling. I reckon they have massively overbought. Things are going to get very interesting by way of discounts after Christmas. Advice: Keep your eye on the "Grabbit Quick!" thread on Martin Lewis' MSE Forums.

Lidl seem quite organised and do seem to have bought lots of stock into the stores too. There do seem to be are some high quality things to be had if you are lucky but they do seem to sell out of them too quickly for me to get my hands on them! I'm looking forward to what they have in their sales too.

Does anyone think like me, that online supermarket shopping for groceries is over-rated? It might be OK for toiletries and the lines of clothing and maybe even the odd telly but I do like to see what I'm getting and I don't want to trust it to some dolly bird store picker. Neither can I see how it can be profitable for the stores to offer it. It is probably OK for people who live in busy towns and cities, who might get stuck in tons of traffic, but not for the people who don't. Is online shopping, such as I've described, just a fashionable gimmick? Aldi don't offer it and neither do Lidl. Sensible of them or what?

ExecLine -

Does anyone think like me, that online supermarket shopping for groceries is over-rated?


Yes. Sainsbury were delivering very small size veg and near to its end of shelf life.
Many times they were told - in one ear and out the other.

In the last few weeks in this neighbourhood there has been a distinct lack of delivery vans from Tesco, Sains and Asda. Are shoppers switching to going back to store shopping or are the discounters stealing these shoppers ?

personally, i would never buy fresh produce on line
the temptation for the store to dump its non-prime condition produce on the muppets, is just too tempting

I think they get a bit too confused about 'Market Share'.

This is where 'Big Data' comes in handy for the making of much better decisions and, judging from the recent deal between 'Tesco Points' and Wandisco in the RNS yesterday, Tesco have now got seriously involved with these analytics.

I think Lewis is just the sort of guy to make some powerful decisions about only doing online 'typical supermarket shopping' in selective geographical areas.

Online shopping 'makes a statement' but it must cost the supermarkets a fortune to do it. My guess on it, is that the reality on its profitablity, is just daft.

With online shopping at this time of year, this is what you might well get:

Sainsbury's website crash leaves customers' food orders stuffed for Christmas