The new chief executive officer of Tesco Plc, Dave Lewis, has warned that the retailer’s earnings will be about half that forecast in August, the company’s fourth profit warning this year.
Tesco is now forecasting that trading profit for the year ending February won’t be above £1.4 billion. The company’s shares fell as much as 17% on the news, to a multi-year low.
Mr. Lewis said the company would give further details on how it “to improve the competitiveness of the UK customer offer” and strengthen its balance sheet early next month.
He revealed the company had, among other things, cut staff and destocked food to boost profits in the last weeks of previous financial years, and said “We’re not going to do anything which, while it might be a short-term efficiency, will affect customer experience.”
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