It’s no surprise that Tesco dominates this morning’s business pages after reporting a £6.4bn full-year loss yesterday – one of the biggest losses in UK corporate history.
The Guardian focuses on a note by Cantor FitzGerald analyst Mike Dennis which suggests the UK’s biggest retailers needs to consider closing a further 200 underperforming stores, axe more jobs, delist its slowest selling products and use excess store space for concessions and healthcare services.
Also looking at investor reaction, The Times (£) said critics had questions why Tesco CEO Dave Lewis had decided against a rights issue. Retail analyst Rickin Thakrar told the paper: “They should have found a way to raise some equity — that would have given them some breathing room. I can see why they didn’t, because the profits were terrible and the stock could have completely collapsed, but it’s not conservative. They’ve got a ton of debt.”
The Daily Telegraph warned restoring Tesco to its former glory would be no quick fix. Rather than a ‘kitchen sink’ job, it said, the retailer had “ripped down the entire house and has started to rebuild it again.”
“If April 22 was “D-Day” for the FTSE 100 retailer, then April 23 onwards should be viewed as the beginning of the new chapter in the retailer’s 96-year history,” it added.
Away from Tesco, The Times (£) reports on the news living standards in the UK are improving at their fastest pace in six years. A household finance survey by Markit conducted this month found families felt better off than at any point since its survey began in February 2009.
The Daily Telegraph, meanwhile, reports on the news that Scottish craft brewery Brewdog is raising £25m from fans to expand its factory, create a sour beer brewery, and launch its own ‘beer hotel’ “where the craft brew will never stop flowing”. Co-founder Martin Dickie told the paper: “We’re going to have draught Brewdog on tap in the bedrooms. We would love to have somewhere for people who visit us to stay, as we’re quite out of the way up here.”
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