Tesco boss likely to face grilling

TESCO CHIEF Dave Lewis will be under pressure over plunging profits and a £250 million accounting scandal when the company publishes half-year results today.

Tesco’s sales are falling fastest in the sector with trading profits expected to be down by nearly half to £850m.

Mr Lewis is likely to face questions on how he plans to reverse the decline of Brit a i n’s bi ggest supermarket.

He is also expected to set out preliminary findings of an independent review which saw eight executives suspended after Tesco admitted overstating its profit expectations for the half-year by £250m.

Tesco, Asda, Sainsbury’s and Mor r i s ons were yesterday warned that their price war will do little to entice shoppers back from discount German food retailers.

The Red Flag research by business recovery specialists Begbies Traynor for the third quarter of 2014 found that the UK’s food retailing industry experienced the sharpest increase in ‘signif icant’ financial distress.

The number of struggling businesses rose by 11% and those in critical financial distress rose 23% over the last quarter.

Julie Palmer of Begbies Traynor, said the Big Four’s price cuts to encourage shoppers back were not having the desired effect.

UK consumers were more aware than ever of the low prices at Aldi and Lidl, and the Big Four’s loss of market share was more to do with problems in t heir own processes including supply chain disputes, inefficient legacy sites and f inancial management.

She said: “These operational issues need to be fixed quickly to avoid Q3’s poor performance turning into a depressed Christmas sales period.”