Tesco’s share price has fallen 52pc in a year, but company receives Gulfstream jet
Tesco's share price has dropped 52.4 per cent in the last year and it overestimated its half-year profits by £250m.
Why, then, is the besieged supermarket taking delivery of a new private jet; a Gulfstream G550 worth a reported £31m?
Any blame could lie at the door of Philip Clarke, the chief executive who left the company in July.
Clarke sanctioned the sale and Tesco is now obliged to receive the jet.
It, and four others, will be sold.
When Clarke ordered the jet Tesco had already issued a profit warning, its first for two decades – both the former chief and the structure in place at Tesco will now be under scrutiny.
The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has launched an investigation into the chain of events that led to Tesco's massive overestimate of its half-yearly profits.
It had been a testing few months for the retailer leading up to this – in August, the struggling supermarket issued a profit warning, saying it expected half year results to be in the region of £1.1bn.
Prior to that, it reduced full-year forecasts from £2.8bn to £2.4bn, resulting in a share price plunge of eight per cent.
