Tesco results live: comment, reaction and analysis
Updated : 19:58
Welcome to our rolling coverage of Tesco's results this morning, with comment and analysis from City and retail experts:
0718: Underlying diluted earnings per share in the first half were down 48.2% to 7.71p due to the reduction in underlying profitability and a "more normal" rate of group tax.
0717: The impact of the profit overstatement, the 'black hole' in its accounts, has been confirmed as £263m, slightly more than the £250m originally reported. Tesco indicated that the problems predated this period as only around £118m of the profit overstatement was from this financial year, with £70m relating to the 2013/14 period and £75m to “pre-2013/14”.
0710: Chairman Sir Richard Broadbent has announced his own succession process. Once the current transition to trading under the new executive management he said it would mark "the beginning of a new phase for the company and I will begin now to prepare the ground to ensure an orderly process for my own succession at that time", saying this would help the company to "draw a line under the past as it enters the next phase of its development".
0706: Chief executive Dave Lewis said: “Our business is operating in challenging times. Trading conditions are tough and our underlying profitability is under pressure." Providing little detail on his plans for the company in the results statement, Lewis did add that his personal review of the whole business was continuing but three immediate priorities were already clear: "to recover our competitiveness in the UK, to protect and strengthen our balance sheet and to begin the long journey back to building trust and transparency into our business and brand."
0704: First half trading profits for Tesco fell 39.4% at constant exchange rates to £937m, well above consensus analyst forecasts of £853m. Management did not provide a full year profit forecast. Tesco UK like-for-like sales were down 4.6%. The impact of the profit overstatement, the 'black hole' in its accounts, has been confirmed as £263m, slightly more than the £250m originally reported.
-- Thursday 23 October 2014 --
Preview: Deutsche Bank has penciled in earnings before interest and tax of £854m at Tesco for its first half, which would equate to a 46% drop on last year.
Any comments on trading since the half-year stage will also be closely watched after Kantar Worldpanel said this week that Tesco "may be turning a corner" and that sales trends were going "in the right direction".
Nevertheless, the focus will be on the extent of the company's recent profit "mis-guidance" and to what extent, if any, it will have to revise results for prior periods. Traders will also be focusing on any changes to the company's strategy, although no major modifications are expected just yet, analysts at Deutsche Bank wrote to clients on Wednesday. Overnight the FT reported the company is studying the possibility of naming a new chairman.