Total Tesco turnaround not done yet
TESCO’S turnaround is not complete as it still needs to fix its international businesses, according to outgoing chief executive Dave Lewis.
Although the former Unilever executive has been hailed as “the man who saved Tesco” by analysts and investors after reviving the supermarket giant’s fortunes in the UK, Lewis said that “the job isn’t done” but that the brand is back on a firm footing. He explained that for the turnaround to be complete, Tesco needs to see a recovery in its European business.
At its interim results in October, Tesco said that division’s sales had fallen 3.1 per cent on a like-for-like basis in local currency rates. Its sales in Poland, the Czech Republic,, Slovakia and Hungary have been falling for over 18 months.
To turn around its European business, Tesco is closing stores and cutting both costs and the number of products it carries. It is also making more productive use of space and improving its