UK's Tesco posts largest-ever loss of 6.3bn

Test Tesco has reported the worst results in its history with a record statutory pre-tax loss of £6.4bn for the year to the end of February, the BBC reports. That compares with annual pre-tax profit of £2.26bn a year earlier. It is the biggest loss suffered by a UK retailer and one of the largest in the country's corporate history. Around £4.7bn of the losses were the result of the fall in property value of its UK stores, 43 of which it said would close earlier this month. The decline in the value of its property portfolio comes as a direct result of falling footfall in many of its out of town superstores. Tesco's chief executive Dave Lewis admitted it had been "a very difficult year for Tesco". He added: "The results we have published today reflect a deterioration in the market and, more significantly, an erosion of our competitiveness over recent years. He added that he expected conditions in the coming financial year to remain challenging. But investors reacted positively to the results. Tesco's share price rose by more than 1% in early trading on the London Stock Exchange. In Asia, Tesco said trading profit was £565m, once currency fluctuations were stripped out, 15.3% lower than a year earlier a result of sales falling in South Korea, Thailand, and Malaysia.

Russia: X5 boosts profit
X5 Retail Group NV posted a 34% gain in first-quarter, Bloomberg reports. Total net retail sales increased by 26.5% year-on-year in Q1 to 182bn roubles. Gross profit margin increased by 54 basis points (bp) and reached 24.6%. X5’s Ebitda margin widened to 7.2% of sales in the first quarter from 6.8% a year earlier, the company said. Net profit went up to 65.5% in Q1 y/y to 4.1bn roubles ($75.9mn) (Reuters)

SA: Pick n Pay moves to Stage 2
Pick n Pay Stores Ltd. reported a rise in full-year profit that beat analyst estimates as the South African supermarket chain cut costs from its distribution network, opened more stores and repaid debt, biznews.com reports. In the year UP to February 2015, turnover increased by 6% to R66.9bn, up from R63.1bn in 2014 and R59.3bn in 2013. Pick n Pay added 113 new stores during the 12 months, bringing the total to 1,189, while interest payments declined 40% after the repayment of 700mn rand of debt. The company raised the full-year dividend by 28% to 1.18 rand. Sales rose 6.2% to 67.6bn rand. The grocer also plans to double its express, or smaller stores to 100. In Africa outside of Pick n Pay’s home market, revenue climbed 14%.

US: Walmart is the largest IT investor in the world
According to the latest research from IDC, Walmart is not only the biggest IT spender in retail, but is the biggest investor in IT across industries worldwide, consumergoods.edgl.com reports. The competition for the top spot wasn't even close, with Walmart nearly doubling second place finisher Bank of America's seemingly paltry $5.33bn investment, with a jaw-dropping $10.16bn tally according to IDC estimates.

Walmart's Mexican unit sees 1Q Boost
Wal-Mart Stores Inc.'s Mexican unit said Tuesday that its net profit expanded 8.9% on the year during the first quarter, as sales rebounded versus a weak comparison period dogged by new taxes and cautious consumer spending, nasdaq.com reports. The company reported quarterly net profit of 5.18bn Mexican pesos ($334mn), as total revenue increased 9.3% to 111.72bn pesos. It invested $129mn into the business during the period.

Dutch Jumbo introduces contactless payment
Jumbo has announced that it has rolled out a contactless payment solution to all its stores in the country, retailanalysis.igd.com reports. The retailer said that the system will enable shoppers to complete their payment ‘faster and easier’ than previously, with the process being five seconds quicker, helping them to check out quickly and enabling it to keep queues short.

US: Kroger fights by cutting prices
As clear as any declaration by Congress, Kroger put its competition on notice this past week — announcing price cuts on thousands of items, including fruit and vegetables, dispatch.com reports. Mini peeled carrots for example were $1.49 and are now 99 cents. “Kroger’s goal is to give our customers consistent, everyday low prices across the store,” said a spokeswoman for the grocer. There will be no increases in the prices of other items or bans on coupons to compensate, Jarrell said.

US: Stop & Shop, Wegmans turn food waste into energy
Stop & Shop announced it has broken ground on an anaerobic digester that will turn food scraps into energy at its distribution center in Freetown, Mass, supermarketnews.com reports. Separately, Wegmans Food Markets announced it would begin a pilot in May to transfer food waste from four stores in Syracuse, N.Y., to anaerobic digesters on local farms through a partnership with Natural Upcycling.

US: Smart & Final revitalizes Sun Harvest brand
Smart & Final has made a big addition to its natural, organic and sustainable offerings with a rebrand of its Sun Harvest private label, supermarketnews.com reports. The Los Angeles-based retailer relaunched Sun Harvest last Wednesday with 100 SKUs across perishables, grocery and nonfood categories that are now available in all stores, a company spokesperson.

Dutch Sligro faces difficulties with EMTÉ in Q1
Announcing its first quarter results, Sligro has said that total sales rose by 2.2% to €605mn, with the pace of growth at its foodservice division offsetting a contraction at its food retail division, EMTÉ, retailanalysis.igd.com reports. At EMTÉ the company said that sales were down 0.5%, to €205mn, with store closures affecting results and this offset by a 1.0% rise in like-for-like sales. Sligro said that with competitive levels remaining high, promotions and special offers continued to have a ‘significant influence on sales performance’.