Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

‘Plugged gaps’ keeping Tesco ship afloat

‘Plugged  gaps’   keeping Tesco ship afloat

Tesco’s half-year profits tumbled by almost a quarter after underlying sales declines in the UK and every one of its overseas markets.

Once the driving force behind the group, its European and Asian businesses were hit by steep profit falls, contributing to a 23.5% drop in pre-tax profits to £1.39 billion.

Tesco insisted its turnaround efforts were paying off with an improved performance in the UK, where trading profits rose 1.5% to £1.13billion in the six months to August 24. While UK like-for-like sales, excluding fuel, fell 0.5% overall in the first half, the group halted declines in the second quarter, with sales remaining flat against a 1% drop in the previous three months.

Shares slid more than 3% amid fears that Tesco is losing the battle to keep its international business on track, while rival Sainsbury’s also heaped on more pressure as it reported a better-than-expected sales hike in its second quarter.

Sainsbury’s posted a 2% rise in like-for-like sales, excluding fuel, as it continues to gain market share at the expense of its three main rivals.

Philip Clarke, chief executive of Tesco, said: “Despite continuing challenges, we have made further progress on our strategic priorities.”

“Our performance in the UK has strengthened through the half, particularly in our food business, as we have continued our work to Build a Better Tesco,” he added.

With the impact of one-off costs and lower profits on property sales stripped out, underlying group pre-tax profits fell 8.4% to £1.47 billion on a constant currency basis.

John Ibbotson, director of the retail consultants Retail Vision, said Mr Clarke was fighting hard to keep the Tesco ship afloat. “As soon as one leak is plugged, another opens up,” he added.

Tesco suffered a 71% tumble in European trading profits to £55million in its first half and admitted the hit was worse than expected after conditions deteriorated in countries such as Ireland, Turkey and Poland. Profits also fell sharply across Asia, down 12.4% to £314 million, excluding China.

Tesco has been forced to reverse much of former boss Sir Terry Leahy’s ambitious international expansion strategy that saw billions of pounds spent on expanding its footprint.

Under Mr Clarke’s leadership, Tesco is also scrapping more than 100 major UK store developments and focusing growth on convenience stores and its online offering, while also looking to transform stores into family-friendly retail destinations with the addition of the Giraffe restaurant chain alongside larger stores. Mr Clarke insisted the group was “feeling positive about the changes”.