Tesco boss Dave Lewis in video interview says “We’ve got to be a little bit disappointed”
Tesco boss Dave Lewis has taken to YouTube to talk about the supermarket’s troubles after posting a 91.9 per cent drop in profits and a £263m profit understatement.
“We’ve got to be a little bit disappointed," said Lewis, erring towards an understatement rather than overstatement this time.
“It’s fair to say it’s been a challenging time. I think of you look at the results you can see some highlights and I look to some of our countries in central Europe and Asia and I see some positive market beating performance, but if I take it in its totality, I think we’ve got to be a little bit disappointed. I think relative to the market, we’ve not been as competitive as I would have liked us to be" said Leiws.
One of the only figures reported this morning not in negative territory was revenues from Hungary, Czech Republic and Turkey which saw growth of one per cent, 1.5 per cent and 3.5 per cent respectively.
"I see the first half of the year as a relatively poor performance from us and from which we need to grow,” added Lewis. “While everyone’s looking for me to announce a strategic review, it is only seven weeks so we need to be realistic.”
The new chief, who has only been in the job for 53 days, also discussed the investigation and reiterated his priorities, including focusing on the customer.
It’s not the first time Lewis has taken to the camera either, previously embarking on a similar media offensive when he first joined the business, looking perhaps, a little more relaxed, if you compare the two.
Asked if he'd still have taken the job if he knew then, what he knows now, however, Lewis replied: "Yes. The fundamental reason why I believe Tesco is a business I could join and add some value to, hasn't changed," he said.
Watch the video below.