THE HORSEMEAT scandal has hit Tesco, with the supermarket colossus posting a drop in sales in Britain during the past three months. Like-for-like sales dropped by 1 per cent in the second quarter of 2013, with Tesco saying the horsemeat scandal had a "small but discernible impact" on sales of frozen and chilled food at their convenience stores.
The company's chief executive Philip Clarke told Radio 4's Today programme they were planning for the "long term". The supermarket is currently refurbishing stores and plans to refit almost 70 of its biggest outlets.
"We're not helped by the huge changes we're making to general merchandise, which is all about changing the space and the ranges for the future," he said. "We have dramatically reduced our ambitions to grow big stores."
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Outside the UK, Tesco said like-for-like sales fell by 3.8 per cent in Asia and 5.5 per cent in Europe as the global economic environment remained "difficult" for consumers.
Clarke admitted conditions outside the UK remain challenging, saying "we have broadly maintained our performance from the fourth quarter of last year".
The decline in sales comes after a dismal 18 months for Tesco. In April, Tesco suffered its first drop in annual profits in nearly 20 years, with post-tax profit falling 95.7 per cent to £120m. In March, Tesco acquired the Giraffe restaurant chain as part of its attempts to refresh the business. Last year it was voted Britain's worst supermarket by consumers. Although sales figures for the supermarket improved over Christmas, the company had previously warned that the impact of the horsemeat scandal will affect their profit margins.
-
August 9 editorial cartoonsCartoons Saturday's political cartoons include snake oil salesmen, Ghislaine Maxwell's new residence, and more
-
5 hastily redrawn cartoons about redistrictingCartoons Artists take on Donald Trump's draughtsmanship, the White House ballroom, and more
-
Bonnie Blue: taking clickbait to extremesTalking Point Channel 4 claims documentary on the adult performer's attention-grabbing sex stunts is opening up a debate
-
Labour shortages: the ‘most urgent problem’ facing the UK economy right nowSpeed Read Britain is currently in the grip of an ‘employment crisis’
-
Will the energy war hurt Europe more than Russia?Speed Read European Commission proposes a total ban on Russian oil
-
Will Elon Musk manage to take over Twitter?Speed Read The world’s richest man has launched a hostile takeover bid worth $43bn
-
Shoppers urged not to buy into dodgy Black Friday dealsSpeed Read Consumer watchdog says better prices can be had on most of the so-called bargain offers
-
Ryanair: readying for departure from LondonSpeed Read Plans to delist Ryanair from the London Stock Exchange could spell ‘another blow’ to the ‘dwindling’ London market
-
Out of fashion: Asos ‘curse’ has struck againSpeed Read Share price tumbles following the departure of CEO Nick Beighton
-
Universal Music’s blockbuster listing: don’t stop me now…Speed Read Investors are betting heavily that the ‘boom in music streaming’, which has transformed Universal’s fortunes, ‘still has a long way to go’
-
EasyJet/Wizz: battle for air supremacySpeed Read ‘Wizz’s cheeky takeover bid will have come as a blow to the corporate ego’
