Tesco had a rubbish first half of the year

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Tesco had a pretty rubbish first six months.

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Dave Lewis, the CEO that has now been in the job for 13 months, revealed that the largest supermarket in Britain posted a 55% drop in its first half operating profit and like-for-like sales in the same period fell by 1.1%.

Some may see the sales figures as a victory for Lewis and Tesco because analysts had anticipated a steeper drop of 1.5% in same store sales, excluding petrol.

However, Tesco admitted that the average number of products per range reviewed was reduced by 15%, with prices reduced on 10% of remaining range.

So in other words, Tesco may have slowed the sales drop but revenue is still lower and profits are being hit.

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"We have delivered an unprecedented level of change in our business over the last twelve months and it is working. The first half results show sustained improvement across a broad range of key indicators," said Dave Lewis, CEO of Tesco in a statement.

"In the UK, we continue to improve all aspects of our offer for customers, resulting in volume growth which is allowing us to create a virtuous circle of investment.

"Our transformation programme in Europe has accelerated growth and reduced operating expenses, and in Asia, we have gained market share in challenging economic conditions."

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