Tesco withdraws from the US as profits fall

Tesco has revealed it is pulling out of the US after seeing its annual revenue fall for the first time in nearly 20 years.
The UK’s largest supermarket is closing its 199 Fresh and Easy stores at a cost of £1.2 billion, due to the fact its statutory pre-tax profits for the 2012-13 financial year were down by 51 per cent to £1.96 billion.
According to Philip Clarke, chief executive of Tesco, the announcement is a natural consequence of the strategic changes the food and drink giant began over a year ago and which come to an end today (April 17th).
“With profound and rapid change in the way consumers live their lives, our objective is to be the best multichannel retailer for customers,” he added.
The company also disclosed details of a one-off UK property write-down of £804 million and said its fourth quarter sales at British stores open for more than a year – excluding fuel and VAT sales tax – increased by 0.5 per cent.
As well as withdrawing from the US, Tesco is exiting Japan and planning to take a more measured approach to growth in China.