Tesco Plc: a £69.9bn business, growing.
FTSE 100 grocery supermarket · europe · high complexity
Deep-Dive · Company Intelligence
Report overview
Tesco grew its top line to £69.9bn in FY2025, yet took home less operating profit than the year before — while its tax bill rose 56%.
The story
The year, beat by beat — each one a signal from the filing, source cited. Open “the full working” on any beat for the analyst detail.
Turnover hit a new high, but more revenue did not mean more operating profit.
Operating profit
Gross profit rose 4% to £5.05bn, suggesting Tesco held its buying margin. The squeeze happened further down: operating costs absorbed enough of that gain to push operating profit 4% lower. A £1.73bn revenue increase produced £110m less operating profit.
Source · P&L FY2024–FY2025
Pre-tax profit fell 3%, but the tax charge rose 56% — that gap is the most arresting number in the filing.
Profit before tax moved from £2.29bn to £2.15bn — a modest 3% dip. But tax went from £525m to £821m in a single year. That swing is the primary reason profit after tax still rose to £1.63bn despite lower operating profit: the maths only works because prior-year deferred tax positions or one-off reliefs appear to have reversed. The filing does not detail the split further at this level.
Source · P&L FY2024–FY2025
A £7.75bn drop in current assets in one year is the balance-sheet fact that demands an explanation.
Current assets fell from £16.61bn to £8.86bn — a 47% drop. Cash fell only modestly, from £2.34bn to £2.26bn, so the movement sits elsewhere in working capital or short-term investments. Current liabilities rose 4% to £13.82bn over the same period, tightening the current ratio sharply.
Source · Balance Sheet FY2024–FY2025
While the current side of the balance sheet tightened, Tesco materially reduced its long-term liabilities.
Long-term liabilities dropped from £14.9bn to £13.4bn — a £1.5bn reduction. That deleveraging is funded in part by the financing cash outflow, which reached £2.94bn in FY2025 versus £1.86bn in FY2024. Net assets held almost flat at £11.66bn.
Source · Balance Sheet FY2024–FY2025, Cash Flow FY2025
Operating cash flow fell 24% even as the business grew — a gap worth watching.
Operating cash flow
Operating cash came in at £2.92bn in FY2025, down from £3.84bn. Investing outflows shrank sharply to £441m from £1.7bn, suggesting lower capital expenditure or fewer acquisitions. The combined picture: Tesco generated less cash from operations but spent considerably less investing it.
Source · Cash Flow FY2024–FY2025
Tesco has no PSC on record — ownership is spread below the 25% disclosure threshold.
Source · PSC register; Companies House director filings
The questions you'd ask a credit analyst over coffee — answered from this company's filings, with the source for every figure.
Current liabilities stood at £13.82bn against current assets of £8.86bn at the FY2025 balance sheet date — a current ratio below 1.
Cash was £2.26bn. Operating cash flow was £2.92bn for the year. The current assets figure fell 47% in a single year, which is the most significant liquidity movement in the filing. For a business of this scale, intraday credit facilities and supplier payment terms typically bridge the gap, but the filing does not detail those arrangements at this level.
Source · Balance Sheet FY2025; Cash Flow FY2025
Both.
Turnover reached £69.92bn, gross profit was £5.05bn (a gross margin of roughly 7.2%), and profit after tax was £1.63bn. Operating profit of £2.71bn represents an operating margin of around 3.9%. These are thin margins by most industries' standards, but consistent with large-scale food retail. Profit after tax rose 37% year-on-year despite lower operating profit, largely because of tax movements rather than trading improvement.
Source · P&L FY2024–FY2025
No person with significant control is recorded at Companies House — ownership is spread across institutional shareholders, none holding 25% or more individually.
The board has ten directors: CEO Ken Murphy (appointed October 2020), Chair Gerry Murphy (appointed September 2023), and eight non-executives appointed between 2018 and 2025. Nationalities span British, Irish, Belgian, and Luxembourger. There is no disclosed parent company or controlling bloc at this filing level.
Source · PSC register; Companies House director filings
The filing history shows no late or amended accounts flagged in the brief.
The most recent signal is a resolution filed on 2 July 2025. The company has traded under its current name Tesco PLC since at least 1983, having previously been Tesco Stores (Holdings) Public Limited Company and Tesco Stores (Holdings) Limited going back to its 1947 incorporation. No replacement or corrective filings are noted.
Source · Companies House filing signals; name history
The filing brief does not surface detailed notes on charges or secured debt at this level.
The standout balance-sheet movement — current assets falling £7.75bn in a single year — has no note-level explanation available in the brief. The 56% rise in the tax charge from £525m to £821m while pre-tax profit fell 3% is unusual and would typically be explained by deferred tax reversals or prior-year adjustments, but the notes are not disclosed here. Net assets are effectively flat at £11.66bn; no going-concern language is flagged.
Source · Balance Sheet FY2025; P&L FY2025
We surface gaps plainly rather than guess. Use the chapters and tabs below to dig into what is on record.
No agent reported missing data; all key segments, capital structure metrics and strategic KPIs were covered with high confidence, though Central Europe segment profitability detail is limited to top-line margin disclosure without a full cost breakdown.
Origin
Tesco PLC is the UK's largest supermarket group, operating grocery and general merchandise retail stores under the Tesco brand. It is a publicly listed multinational headquartered in Welwyn Garden City, with 341,108 employees and operations across the UK, Ireland, and Central Europe.
Where the money comes from
Revenue £69.9bn (FY2025), up 3% YoY No segmental split disclosed in the filed accounts — this is the total trading revenue line.
At a glance
Timeline
Big year-on-year change
Operating profit surged 85% — from £1.52bn to £2.82bn.
Acquisition
Barclays announced the acquisition of most of Tesco Bank's operations for £600 million, accompanied by a 10-year commercial partnership, effectively ending Tesco's standalone banking ambitions.
Big year-on-year change
Profit after tax collapsed 76% — from £6.15bn to £1.48bn.
Big year-on-year change
Profit after tax more than doubled — from £973.0m to £6.15bn in a single year (+532%).
Joined the board
Bertrand Jean Francois Bodson was first appointed as a director on 1 June 2021.
Joined the board
Imran Nawaz was first appointed as a director on 1 May 2021.
Joined the board
Ken Murphy was first appointed as a director on 1 October 2020.
Acquisition
Tesco sold its nearly 300 Polish stores to Salling Group for £165 million, completing a substantial withdrawal from Central European standalone markets.
Acquisition
Tesco sold its 2,000-store Thai and Malaysian operations, including Tesco Lotus supermarkets, to Charoen Pokphand Group for $10 billion, marking a major retreat from Asian markets.
Joined the board
Melissa Bethell was first appointed as a director on 24 September 2018.
Where our data starts
Earliest analysed accounts: FY2019. 36 years of earlier trading history are not in scope — this report pulls the most recent filed accounts from Companies House.
Merger
Tesco completed its acquisition of Booker Group, the UK's largest food wholesaler, creating a combined retail and wholesale giant despite competition concerns from regulators.
Crisis
Tesco exited the US market after its Fresh & Easy chain filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy at a reported cost of £1.2 billion, marking a major strategic failure in international expansion.
Secured borrowing
Account security agreement fully satisfied on 25 November 2009 (Tesco Trustee Company of Ireland Limited as Trustee of the Tesco Ireland Limited Staff Scheme (The "Trustee")).
Secured borrowing
Account security agreement fully satisfied on 25 November 2009 (Tesco Ireland Pension Trustees Limited as Trustee of the Tesco Ireland Limited Executive Scheme).
Acquisition
Tesco purchased Royal Bank of Scotland's 50% stake in Tesco Personal Finance for £950 million, taking full ownership of what became Tesco Bank and deepening its financial services diversification.
Acquisition
Tesco purchased the retail arm of Associated British Foods — including Quinnsworth, Stewarts, and Crazy Prices — for £640 million, re-establishing a major presence in Ireland and Northern Ireland.
Leadership change
Terry Leahy assumed the role of Chief Executive, ushering in a transformative era that would see Tesco become the UK's dominant grocer and a major international retailer.
Acquisition
Tesco outbid Sainsbury's to acquire the 57-store Dundee-based William Low chain, establishing a stronger presence in Scotland.
Secured borrowing
Sterling deposit agreement and charge registered against the company on 5 April 1994 in favour of Cobroad Investments.
Go deeper
02 · Financials
Scene 01 · Revenue
From £63.91bn in FY2019 to £69.92bn in FY2025 — a 9% increase.
FY2019 – FY2025 · Companies House (PDF accounts) · hover any point for the full year
Scene 02 · Metrics
All figures in GBP (£) · as filed, not converted
Financial health
Computed from · cash · net assets · current ratio · debt to equity · total liabilities
Scene 03 · Trends
Eight years of revenue, profit and operating performance side-by-side. Hover any dot for the full year cross-section.
Revenue, profitability and operating growth over time
Scene 05 · Full detail
All metrics across FY2019–FY2025, now fully contextualised by the story above.
| Metric | FY2019 | FY2020 | FY2021 | FY2022 | FY2023 | FY2024 | FY2025 | Δ YoY |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Turnover | £63.91bn | £58.09bn | £57.89bn | £61.34bn | £65.76bn | £68.19bn | £69.92bn | ▲ 3% |
| Cost of sales | -£59.22bn | -£53.45bn | -£53.54bn | -£56.75bn | -£62.03bn | -£62.84bn | -£64.20bn | ▼ 2% |
| Gross profit | £4.70bn | £3.96bn | £3.96bn | £4.63bn | £3.66bn | £4.85bn | £5.05bn | ▲ 4% |
| Other operating income | — | £491.0m | £479.0m | £0 | £0 | — | — | — |
| Administrative expenses | -£2.05bn | -£2.23bn | -£2.23bn | -£2.07bn | -£2.14bn | -£2.03bn | -£2.34bn | ▼ 15% |
| Other operating costs derived | — | — | -£479.0m | — | — | — | — | — |
| Operating profit | £2.65bn | £2.21bn | £1.74bn | £2.56bn | £1.52bn | £2.82bn | £2.71bn | ▼ 4% |
| Finance income | £25.0m | £100.0m | £15.0m | £9.0m | £85.0m | £267.0m | £254.0m | ▼ 5% |
| Finance costs | -£1.09bn | -£1.19bn | -£952.0m | -£551.0m | -£618.0m | -£805.0m | -£746.0m | ▲ 7% |
| Profit before tax | £1.62bn | £1.03bn | £825.0m | £2.03bn | £1.00bn | £2.29bn | £2.21bn | ▼ 3% |
| Tax | -£347.0m | -£290.0m | -£104.0m | -£510.0m | -£247.0m | -£525.0m | -£821.0m | ▼ 56% |
| Profit after tax | £1.27bn | £973.0m | £6.15bn | £1.48bn | £744.0m | £1.19bn | £1.63bn | ▲ 37% |
| EBITDA (memo) | £4.70bn | £2.57bn | £1.81bn | £2.86bn | £3.23bn | £4.45bn | £4.83bn | ▲ 8% |
| Metric | FY2019 | FY2020 | FY2021 | FY2022 | FY2023 | FY2024 | FY2025 | Δ YoY |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Intangible assets | £6.26bn | £6.12bn | £5.39bn | £5.36bn | £5.38bn | £5.07bn | £5.09bn | — 0% |
| Tangible assets | £19.19bn | £19.23bn | £17.21bn | £17.06bn | £16.86bn | £17.22bn | £17.26bn | — 0% |
| Investments | £602.0m | £307.0m | £1.10bn | £1.25bn | £1.34bn | £102.0m | £110.0m | ▲ 8% |
| Total fixed assets | £44.32bn | £39.14bn | £33.52bn | £37.16bn | £33.41bn | £30.43bn | £30.03bn | ▼ 1% |
| Stocks | — | £2.43bn | £2.07bn | — | — | — | — | — |
| Debtors | £243.0m | £166.0m | £1.43bn | £1.42bn | £1.39bn | £1.35bn | £1.21bn | ▼ 10% |
| Cash at bank | £2.92bn | £3.41bn | £1.98bn | £2.35bn | £2.46bn | £2.34bn | £2.25bn | ▼ 4% |
| Total current assets | £12.48bn | £12.88bn | £10.20bn | £11.82bn | £12.52bn | £16.61bn | £8.86bn | ▼ 47% |
| Trade creditors | -£9.13bn | -£8.92bn | -£8.51bn | -£9.18bn | -£9.82bn | -£10.26bn | -£10.36bn | ▼ 1% |
| Bank loans (current) | -£1.56bn | -£1.49bn | -£559.0m | -£725.0m | -£1.77bn | -£1.54bn | -£1.86bn | ▼ 21% |
| Total current liabilities | £20.97bn | £17.93bn | £15.72bn | £16.12bn | £17.72bn | £13.35bn | £13.82bn | ▲ 4% |
| Net current assets | -£8.39bn | -£4.76bn | -£5.52bn | -£3.95bn | -£5.01bn | -£3.87bn | -£4.96bn | ▼ 28% |
| Total assets less current liabilities | £13.43bn | £13.25bn | £30.36bn | £15.64bn | £12.23bn | — | — | — |
| Bank loans (non-current) | -£5.58bn | -£6.00bn | -£6.19bn | -£6.67bn | -£5.58bn | -£5.68bn | -£5.09bn | ▲ 10% |
| Long-term liabilities | £22.49bn | £21.12bn | £17.46bn | £17.57bn | £16.17bn | £14.90bn | £13.41bn | ▼ 10% |
| Provisions | £373.0m | £292.0m | £305.0m | £466.0m | £560.0m | £481.0m | £466.0m | ▼ 3% |
| Net assets | £13.43bn | £13.25bn | £12.32bn | £15.64bn | £12.23bn | £11.66bn | £11.66bn | — 0% |
| Total equity | £13.43bn | £13.25bn | £12.32bn | £15.64bn | £12.23bn | £11.66bn | £11.66bn | — 0% |
| Metric | FY2019 | FY2020 | FY2021 | FY2022 | FY2023 | FY2024 | FY2025 | Δ YoY |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Net cash from operating activities | £2.55bn | -£515.0m | £602.0m | £3.76bn | £3.72bn | £3.84bn | £2.92bn | ▼ 24% |
| Net cash used in investing activities | -£1.14bn | £2.52bn | £6.17bn | -£1.74bn | -£706.0m | -£1.70bn | -£441.0m | ▲ 74% |
| Net cash used in financing activities | -£2.57bn | -£1.87bn | -£7.84bn | -£2.23bn | -£3.19bn | -£1.86bn | -£2.94bn | ▼ 58% |
| Net increase / (decrease) in cash | -£1.16bn | £506.0m | -£1.07bn | -£212.0m | -£172.0m | £280.0m | -£462.0m | swung − |
| Cash at end of year | £2.92bn | £3.03bn | £1.98bn | £1.77bn | £1.56bn | £1.53bn | £1.40bn | ▼ 9% |
Scene 04 · Waterfall
How each cost layer eats into the top-line on the way down to profit after tax. Cascade chart coming in the next release — for now the table below shows the same flow.
FY2025 audited accounts · cascade view
03 · Risk
Working capital + cash
Four numbers that tell you how stretched the balance sheet is today. The line under each is in plain English — what the number means for the business, not what to do about it.
Screening status
Compliance signals
Screening returned a partial name overlap: 'CESCAU, Patrick Jean Pierre' against 'PIERRE' on the Russia (Sanctions) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019 list (85% name similarity). No identifier corroboration — an unconfirmed overlap, not a confirmed hit.
Screening returned a partial name overlap: 'CESCAU, Patrick Jean Pierre' against 'PIERRE' on the Russia (Sanctions) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019 list (85% name similarity). No identifier corroboration — an unconfirmed overlap, not a confirmed hit.
Screening returned a partial name overlap: 'CESCAU, Patrick Jean Pierre' against 'PIERRE' on the Russia (Sanctions) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019 list (85% name similarity). No identifier corroboration — an unconfirmed overlap, not a confirmed hit.
Tesco CEO Ken Murphy returned a 0.86-confidence match to Luke Murphy MP (Labour); the match is based on shared surname and first-name partial overlap only, with no basis to treat the subject as a PEP.
Company secretary Christopher Jon Taylor returned a 90% name-match against a disqualified-director entry (DOB 05/1989) on the Companies House register; date of birth is not corroborated and common-name false positives are probable.
Two outstanding charges are registered against Tesco PLC, consistent with routine secured lending arrangements for a large-cap retailer.
Key audit matters
Identified by Deloitte LLP as a key audit matter — an area requiring significant judgement or specialist attention during the FY2025 audit.
Identified by Deloitte LLP as a key audit matter — an area requiring significant judgement or specialist attention during the FY2025 audit.
Identified by Deloitte LLP as a key audit matter — an area requiring significant judgement or specialist attention during the FY2025 audit.
Identified by Deloitte LLP as a key audit matter — an area requiring significant judgement or specialist attention during the FY2025 audit.
Contingent liabilities
Principal risks
Physical and transition risks from climate change could impact infrastructure, supply chain and the Group's ability to meet its net zero obligations and ESG targets.
Wars, civil unrest, terrorism, elections, tariffs and potential pandemics could disrupt supply chains, threaten employee safety and cause broader economic impacts.
Failure to maintain resilient IT systems and infrastructure could result in loss of operating capabilities, financial impacts and reputational damage.
Failure to ensure products are sourced responsibly, respecting human rights and fair working conditions, could result in supply chain disruption, regulatory breaches and reputational damage.
Failure to meet health, safety and security standards could result in death or injury to customers, colleagues or third parties, with adverse financial, legal and reputational consequences.
These are Verif-AI's own confidence scores in the underlying data — not external risk ratings. Each dimension reflects how complete and self-consistent the filed numbers were on extraction.
04 · Market
Industry classification
Wholesale & retail trade
Companies House records the SIC2007 classification for this entity under 1 code: 47110.
Peer cohort · Division 47 · Retail Trade · 34 peers
Geographic revenue split
Revenue split by region as the company itself reports it in the filed accounts.
Concentration + dependency
The large majority of sales (around 94% of group sales) come from UK and Republic of Ireland. Central Europe (Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary) represents the remainder.
Sales are spread across millions of individual consumers with no disclosed customer concentration. Clubcard has 18 million app users, indicating a broad and loyal base.
The report says Tesco maintains a diversified supplier portfolio and has contingency suppliers identified for key products. No single supplier dependency disclosed, but tobacco market decline is noted as a headwind for Booker.
No single-site production dependency disclosed. The report highlights a new Peterborough robotic distribution centre and an Aylesford semi-automated centre due to open in summer 2025, suggesting investment in distributed logistics.
Tesco earns revenues in Czech koruna, Slovak euro, and Hungarian forint in addition to sterling and euro. The report shows sales growth differs at actual versus constant exchange rates, indicating some currency sensitivity, but hedging details are not described in the extracted sections.
Strategic priorities
Directly from the management commentary in the filed accounts — descriptive of stated intent, not a forecast.
Offer customers the best value — through price matching with Aldi, low everyday prices, and Clubcard exclusive deals.
Be the most convenient retailer — growing online, same-day delivery (Whoosh), and store count.
Save to invest — cutting costs across the business to fund investment in price, quality, and colleagues.
Grow the Clubcard loyalty programme as a personalised digital platform and source of data-driven commercial income.
Hit sustainability targets — carbon neutral own operations by 2035, net zero across the full supply chain by 2050.
Sector cohort · 34 peers · Retail Trade
| Metric | This filing | Peer median | Percentile | Assessment |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cash Ratio | 0.16 | 0.17 | 25th | below median |
| Profit Margin (%) | 3.2% | 3.7% | 46th | below median |
| Quick Ratio | 0.25 | 0.44 | 25th | below median |
| Gross Margin (%) | 7.2% | 32.1% | 10th | weak |
| Current Ratio | 0.45 | 0.61 | 29th | below median |
| Cash-to-Assets | 0.06 | 0.08 | 10th | weak |
| Debt-to-Assets | 0.75 | 0.71 | 75th | below median |
| Debt-to-Equity | 2.33 | 2.29 | 54th | below median |
| Net Assets Growth (%) | 0.0% | 2.0% | 25th | below median |
05 · People
Every named director was cross-checked against the full UK Companies House appointments dataset (27.8 million records). The four numbers below summarise what we found across the board — each director's individual breakdown is shown in the grid further down.
Each director, individually
| Role | Director | Career boards | Concurrent | Prior-failure rate | Joined | Other UK boards |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Director |
Christopher John Kennedy
British · United Kingdom
Phoenix flag
5 phoenix-pattern transitions detectedInvolved in 118 UK companies over career
|
118 1 failed | 11 busy | 0.8% | 13 November 1998 | |
|
Christopher John Kennedy 59 other UK boards they sit onClick + Deep Dive to add a company to your basket. Bundle pricing: 1 = £9.99 · 2 = £15.99 · 3 = £20.99 · then +£4 each. Food Limited No. 01797494 Msfc Limited No. 03287591 Ensign Records Limited No. 01282967 E.m.i. Overseas Holdings Limited No. 00403200 Parlophone Records Limited No. 00068172 EMI (Ip) Limited No. 03984464 Jaydone Limited No. 04631083 EMI Group Worldwide No. 03158106 Mawlaw 388 Limited No. 03590255 Electric And Musical Industries Limited No. 00288008 Virgin Records Overseas Limited No. 00335444 E.m.i. Overseas Holdings Limited No. 00403200 Abbey Road Studios Limited No. 00437091 EMI Group Hayes Limited No. 00448282 EMI Group Electronics Limited No. 00461611 EMI Group Finance Limited No. 00806281 Music For Pleasure Limited No. 00851847 Chrysalis Records Limited No. 00938986 Virgin Records Limited No. 01070953 Mute Records Limited No. 01766113 Erato Record Classics Limited No. 02074980 VRL Recordings No. 02259349 WMG Global Ventures Limited No. 02459405 Sacred Heart Records Limited No. 02552767 EMI Group Worldwide Holdings Limited No. 06226803 EMI Music Publishing Finance (Uk) Limited No. 06405600 EMI Group International Holdings Limited No. 01407770 Imet (21) Limited No. 00048760 EMI Limited No. 00053317 John Taylor,dunford & Co.limited No. 00088380 Warner Music Artist Services International Limited No. 00109997 EMI Group Limited No. 00229231 EMI UK Holdings No. 00255852 EMI Archive Trust No. 03197688 EasyJet PLC No. 03959649 EasyJet Airline Company Limited No. 03034606 SVF Holdco (Uk) Limited No. 02548782 ARM Limited No. 02557590 ARM Ip Limited No. 08413587 ARM Finance Overseas Limited No. 05375817 ARM UK Holdings Limited No. 05376033 ARM Technology Investments Limited No. 09195191 LLC Arm Pipd Holdings Two No. FC025784 LLC Arm Pipd Holdings One No. FC025783 Whitbread PLC No. 04120344 ARM Asia Investment G.p. Limited No. 10194528 Micro Focus International Limited No. 05134647 Micro Focus (Ip) Holdings Limited No. 10672226 Longsand Limited No. 04598955 Micro Focus Ip Development Limited No. 07233975 Micro Focus Software (Ip) Holdings Limited No. 11635295 ITV PLC No. 04967001 ITV Services Limited No. 00229607 ITV Broadcasting Limited No. 00955957 ITV Studios Limited No. 03106525 THE Addressable Platform Limited No. 11423826 Britbox International Limited No. 13131628 Britbox Svod Limited No. 11801341 Britbox International Trading Limited No. 13359287 |
||||||
| Director |
Stewart Charles Gilliland
British · England
|
18 | 6 busy | 0.0% | 7 December 2004 | |
|
Stewart Charles Gilliland 13 other UK boards they sit onClick + Deep Dive to add a company to your basket. Bundle pricing: 1 = £9.99 · 2 = £15.99 · 3 = £20.99 · then +£4 each. Nimbuspath Limited No. 04290399 Vianet Group PLC No. 05345684 Dairy UK Limited No. 01971245 Halewood Artisanal Spirits (Holdings) Limited No. 03699814 Muller Dairy (U.k.) Limited No. 02092691 THE Royal Countryside Fund No. 07240359 Countryside Fund Trading Ltd No. 07274582 Sutton And East Surrey Water PLC No. 02447875 Booker Group Limited No. 05145685 Pilgrim's Pride Ltd. No. 00608077 Natures Way Foods Limited No. 02896421 Mitchells & Butlers PLC No. 04551498 IG Design Group PLC No. 01401155 |
||||||
| Director |
Karen Tracy Whitworth
British · United Kingdom
|
7 | 3 | 0.0% | 13 September 2005 | |
|
Karen Tracy Whitworth 4 other UK boards they sit onClick + Deep Dive to add a company to your basket. Bundle pricing: 1 = £9.99 · 2 = £15.99 · 3 = £20.99 · then +£4 each. GS1 UK Limited No. 01256140 Tritax Big Box Reit PLC No. 08215888 Pets At Home Group PLC No. 08885072 Nuffield Health No. 00576970 |
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| Director |
Caroline Louise Silver
British · United Kingdom
|
11 | 5 busy | 0.0% | 1 October 2009 | |
|
Caroline Louise Silver 9 other UK boards they sit onClick + Deep Dive to add a company to your basket. Bundle pricing: 1 = £9.99 · 2 = £15.99 · 3 = £20.99 · then +£4 each. Moelis & Company UK LLP No. OC340005 PZ Cussons PLC No. 00019457 British United Provident Association Limited(The) No. 00432511 M&G PLC No. 11444019 Meggitt Limited No. 00432989 ICE Clear Europe Limited No. 06219884 THE V&a Foundation No. 07788681 Barratt Redrow PLC No. 00604574 National Film And Television School(The) No. 00981908 |
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| Director |
Lady Melissa Bethell
British · England
|
12 | 11 busy | 0.0% | 1 July 2018 | |
|
Lady Melissa Bethell 9 other UK boards they sit onClick + Deep Dive to add a company to your basket. Bundle pricing: 1 = £9.99 · 2 = £15.99 · 3 = £20.99 · then +£4 each. Diageo PLC No. 00023307 Sadler's Wells Development Trust No. 01031348 Sadler's Wells Limited No. 02907116 Sadler's Wells Trust Limited No. 01488786 Atoll Midco Ltd No. 14073891 Atoll Debtco Ltd No. 14074113 Atoll Holdco Ltd. No. FC040033 Ocean Bidco Limited No. 08038055 ST Mary's School Ascot No. 01844327 |
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| Director |
Imran Nawaz
Luxembourger · United Kingdom
|
9 | 5 busy | 0.0% | 1 August 2018 | |
|
Imran Nawaz 8 other UK boards they sit onClick + Deep Dive to add a company to your basket. Bundle pricing: 1 = £9.99 · 2 = £15.99 · 3 = £20.99 · then +£4 each. Tate & Lyle Public Limited Company No. 00076535 Tate & Lyle International Finance PLC No. 00970351 Tesco Stores Limited No. 00519500 Tesco Distribution Limited No. 02972724 Tesco Overseas Investments Limited No. 03193632 Maldon Finance Limited No. 12534413 Tesco Corporate Treasury Services PLC No. 08629715 Tesco Holdings Limited No. 00243011 |
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| Director · active |
Thierry Dominique Gerard Garnier
French · United Kingdom
|
2 | 2 | — | 25 September 2019 | |
|
Thierry Dominique Gerard Garnier 1 other UK board they sit onClick + Deep Dive to add a company to your basket. Bundle pricing: 1 = £9.99 · 2 = £15.99 · 3 = £20.99 · then +£4 each. Kingfisher PLC No. 01664812 |
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| Director · active |
Ken Murphy
Irish · United Kingdom
|
3 | 3 | 0.0% | 1 October 2020 | |
|
Ken Murphy 2 other UK boards they sit onClick + Deep Dive to add a company to your basket. Bundle pricing: 1 = £9.99 · 2 = £15.99 · 3 = £20.99 · then +£4 each. Tesco Holdings Limited No. 00243011 Tesco Stores Limited No. 00519500 |
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| Director |
Bertrand Jean Francois Bodson
Belgian · England
|
6 | 5 busy | 0.0% | 1 June 2015 | |
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Bertrand Jean Francois Bodson 5 other UK boards they sit onClick + Deep Dive to add a company to your basket. Bundle pricing: 1 = £9.99 · 2 = £15.99 · 3 = £20.99 · then +£4 each. RS Group PLC No. 00647788 Keywords Studios Limited No. 08548351 Houting Topco UK Limited No. 15450782 Houting Midco Limited No. 15452346 Houting UK Limited No. 15452897 |
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Co-director network
People who share at least one other UK directorship with someone on this board. Sorted by overlap count. Click any shared boards chip to reveal the companies they overlap on.
Historical board
Every officer who has left the company, newest-resignation first. Helps spot waves of churn that wouldn't show on the active-director cards alone.
06 · AI Investigation
AI forensic pass across 100 Companies House filings. 30 page-cited signals from three specialist agents, 2 cross-signal correlations, and 4 verification questions for management — every claim traces back to a filing reference.
AI Analyst commentary
Narrator-written context blocks — what an analyst would read in 90 seconds and walk away with the picture.
Net assets are essentially flat at £11.7bn — the business is not building equity, but it's not eroding it either. The more important trend is that both current and long-term liabilities have fallen significantly since FY2023, reducing the overall debt load from a combined £33.9bn to £27.2bn.
15 directors currently registered at Companies House — a large board typical of a FTSE-listed PLC with governance requirements. Several directors hold roles at other companies, including IG Design Group PLC and Houting Topco UK Ltd — standard for non-executive board members.
Tesco PLC is a listed company with no single controlling shareholder — 82% held by institutional investors as of June 2025. No single PSC on record; widely-held ownership structure is typical of a major FTSE-listed retailer.
Case files · Chapter dossier
The investigation as one running thread — each beat resolves a signal cluster, page-cited. Open “the full working” on any beat for the forensic detail.
Turnover hit a new high, but more revenue did not mean more operating profit.
Operating profit
Gross profit rose 4% to £5.05bn, suggesting Tesco held its buying margin. The squeeze happened further down: operating costs absorbed enough of that gain to push operating profit 4% lower. A £1.73bn revenue increase produced £110m less operating profit.
Source · P&L FY2024–FY2025
Pre-tax profit fell 3%, but the tax charge rose 56% — that gap is the most arresting number in the filing.
Profit before tax moved from £2.29bn to £2.15bn — a modest 3% dip. But tax went from £525m to £821m in a single year. That swing is the primary reason profit after tax still rose to £1.63bn despite lower operating profit: the maths only works because prior-year deferred tax positions or one-off reliefs appear to have reversed. The filing does not detail the split further at this level.
Source · P&L FY2024–FY2025
A £7.75bn drop in current assets in one year is the balance-sheet fact that demands an explanation.
Current assets fell from £16.61bn to £8.86bn — a 47% drop. Cash fell only modestly, from £2.34bn to £2.26bn, so the movement sits elsewhere in working capital or short-term investments. Current liabilities rose 4% to £13.82bn over the same period, tightening the current ratio sharply.
Source · Balance Sheet FY2024–FY2025
While the current side of the balance sheet tightened, Tesco materially reduced its long-term liabilities.
Long-term liabilities dropped from £14.9bn to £13.4bn — a £1.5bn reduction. That deleveraging is funded in part by the financing cash outflow, which reached £2.94bn in FY2025 versus £1.86bn in FY2024. Net assets held almost flat at £11.66bn.
Source · Balance Sheet FY2024–FY2025, Cash Flow FY2025
Operating cash flow fell 24% even as the business grew — a gap worth watching.
Operating cash flow
Operating cash came in at £2.92bn in FY2025, down from £3.84bn. Investing outflows shrank sharply to £441m from £1.7bn, suggesting lower capital expenditure or fewer acquisitions. The combined picture: Tesco generated less cash from operations but spent considerably less investing it.
Source · Cash Flow FY2024–FY2025
Tesco has no PSC on record — ownership is spread below the 25% disclosure threshold.
Source · PSC register; Companies House director filings
Cross-signal intelligence
Pairs of facts from different chapters that — taken together — tell a story neither half does alone. This is where investigation outperforms summary.
The 47% collapse in current assets [chapter 3] sits alongside a 24% fall in operating cash flow [chapter 5] — both suggest significant working-capital or treasury movements that the top-line numbers in [chapter 1] do not flag.
The £1.5bn reduction in long-term liabilities [chapter 4] is funded partly by the £2.94bn financing outflow visible in [chapter 5], implying debt repayment absorbed cash that might otherwise have offset the operating cash shortfall.
Deep signals
Specifics most readers would miss — surfaced by the AI for the analyst who wants to know.
Consistent with a business where buying margins are improving — Tesco is getting better terms from suppliers or selling more profitable products — but overhead costs (distribution, energy, wages, store operations) are rising faster. The retail gross margin is healthy; it's what sits below it that's eating the gains.
Appears to be a structural feature of Tesco's position as a dominant grocery buyer. Suppliers effectively extend large payment terms, but because card and cash sales settle in days, the net cash cycle is very long. This is not a problem at Tesco's scale — but it means the business is permanently dependent on maintaining very large trade creditor balances. Any event that caused suppliers to tighten terms would have an outsized cash impact.
Tesco is a textbook lease-heavy retailer — the landlord community is, in aggregate, one of its largest creditors. These lease commitments are long-dated, legally binding, and very hard to reduce quickly. If consumer spending dropped sharply, Tesco could not easily close stores and walk away from rent obligations without significant cost.
Forensic investigation · 30 signals
Segmental revenue · capital structure · strategic KPIs. Each agent cites the exact filing page for every claim, with an AI confidence score derived from cross-citation strength.
Segmental Analysis
UK & ROI revenue was £65,583m in 52 weeks ended 22 Feb 2025 vs £63,691m prior year. Central Europe was £4,333m vs £4,496m. Total group revenue was £69,916m vs £68,187m.
p.11 · 5 more from this specialist
Strategic KPIs
Group sales rose to £63.6bn from £61.5bn, up 4.0% at constant exchange rates.
p.19 · 9 more from this specialist
Capital Structure & Borrowings
Net debt was £9,454m at 22 Feb 2025, down from £9,684m a year earlier, driven by £1,750m free cash flow and £614m from selling the Banking business to Barclays.
p.28 · 13 more from this specialist
UK & ROI revenue was £65,583m in 52 weeks ended 22 Feb 2025 vs £63,691m prior year. Central Europe was £4,333m vs £4,496m. Total group revenue was £69,916m vs £68,187m.
Why it matters: Almost all of Tesco's sales come from one region, so any slowdown in the UK would hit the whole business very hard.
p.11 critical conf 97%
Following the disposal of the Banking operations completed 1 November 2024, Tesco Bank is no longer a separate reportable segment. Insurance and Money Services (previously part of Tesco Bank) is now reported within UK & ROI. Comparative data has been restated.
Why it matters: The removal of the banking segment means year-on-year comparisons look different from before, so care is needed when comparing this year's figures to older reports.
p.10, p.11 important conf 98%
Central Europe revenue dropped from £4,496m to £4,333m, a fall of £163m or about 3.6% year on year.
Why it matters: Central Europe is shrinking slightly in revenue terms, which could signal weakening demand or currency effects in Czech Republic, Hungary and Slovakia.
p.11 useful conf 95%
UK & ROI adjusted operating profit was £3,016m on sales of £65,583m (after fuel deduction), giving a margin of about 4.6%. Prior year was £2,755m on £57,155m sales at 4.3%.
Why it matters: The UK business is holding its margin, meaning it is keeping more profit from each pound of sales — a good sign for the core business.
p.10, p.11 useful conf 92%
Central Europe adjusted operating profit was £112m on sales of £4,333m, giving a margin of about 2.6%. Prior year was £90m on £4,322m at 2.0%. Group total adjusted operating profit at constant exchange was £3,128m.
Why it matters: Central Europe earns far less profit per pound of sales than the UK, meaning it adds much less value relative to its size.
p.10 useful conf 90%
Booker revenue was £8,990m in 2025 vs £9,082m in 2024, a small fall of £92m. It is disclosed as a sub-component of the UK & ROI segment, not a separate reportable segment.
Why it matters: Booker is a sizeable chunk of the UK business (about 13% of group sales) and its slight revenue dip is worth watching for signs of pressure in the wholesale channel.
p.11 useful conf 93%
Group sales rose to £63.6bn from £61.5bn, up 4.0% at constant exchange rates.
Why it matters: Sales growing across every part of the business shows Tesco is winning customers — good news for any supplier or partner thinking about the company's stability.
p.19 important conf 95%
Group adjusted operating profit rose 10.9% to £3.1bn from £2.8bn (at constant exchange rates).
Why it matters: Profit growing more than twice as fast as sales means Tesco is getting more money from each pound of revenue — a sign the business is getting leaner and more efficient.
p.19 important conf 95%
UK online sales grew 10.2%, with market share rising 173 basis points year-on-year to 35.5%.
Why it matters: Tesco is grabbing a bigger slice of online grocery shopping, which is the fastest-growing part of the market — important for suppliers who rely on Tesco's online reach.
p.17 important conf 90%
Scope 1 and 2 carbon emissions fell a further 10% to 0.8m tCO₂e; cumulative reduction is 65% versus the 2015/16 baseline, against a 60% by 2025 target.
Why it matters: Tesco has already beaten its own 2025 climate target, which matters for suppliers and investors who need partners with credible sustainability records.
p.19 important conf 93%
Group NPS rose to 28 points from 19 points — a 9-point improvement year-on-year.
Why it matters: A big jump in how likely customers are to recommend Tesco suggests the value-for-money push is working, which should support continued sales growth.
p.19 important conf 92%
Over 23 million Clubcard households in the UK, celebrating 30 years of the programme.
Why it matters: Such a large loyalty base gives Tesco unmatched data to personalise offers and grow its retail media business — a significant competitive edge over rivals.
p.16 important conf 88%
Free cash flow was £1,750m, within the stated target of £1.4bn–£1.8bn per year.
Why it matters: Strong cash generation means Tesco can keep investing in stores and technology while still paying dividends — reassuring for anyone doing business with them.
p.17 useful conf 92%
Operating cash flow dropped to £4.6bn from £4.7bn, a 3.0% fall, driven by a working capital inflow last year from high input cost inflation.
Why it matters: The drop is largely a one-off timing effect rather than a sign the business is struggling — the underlying cash engine remains strong.
p.19 useful conf 88%
Tesco opened 90 new stores across the Group: 64 in the UK, 12 in ROI, 14 in Central Europe; a further 463 were refreshed.
Why it matters: Opening new stores while refreshing existing ones shows Tesco is investing in its physical network at the same time as growing online — giving more ways for customers to shop.
p.17 useful conf 90%
Great Place to Work score rose 1 percentage point to 85% (from 84% in 2023/24).
Why it matters: Staff satisfaction staying high with a slight improvement means Tesco is less likely to face costly turnover or recruitment problems — keeping service quality steady.
p.19, p.20 useful conf 90%
Net debt was £9,454m at 22 Feb 2025, down from £9,684m a year earlier, driven by £1,750m free cash flow and £614m from selling the Banking business to Barclays.
Why it matters: Debt is falling, which means the company is getting stronger and has more room to absorb any future shocks.
p.28 important conf 95%
Tesco has a £2.5bn committed revolving credit facility that was undrawn at year-end and is in place until at least October 2027.
Why it matters: This is a large cash safety net the company can tap quickly if it ever needs cash in a crisis — it provides strong short-term security.
p.28 important conf 90%
Total dividend for FY 24/25 is 13.70p per share (interim 4.25p + proposed final 9.45p), up from 12.10p in FY 23/24. Total dividends paid in the year were £864m.
Why it matters: A rising dividend means the company is confident enough in its cash flows to return more money to shareholders — a positive signal about future trading.
p.28, p.157 important conf 95%
The company completed £1bn of share buybacks in FY 24/25 (own shares purchased for cancellation: £1,016m per statement of changes in equity). A further £700m of the £614m banking disposal cash and related proceeds is being returned via buybacks in FY 25/26.
Why it matters: Buying back shares reduces the number of shares in circulation, which increases earnings per share for remaining shareholders — it also signals that management believes the shares are good value.
p.27, p.28, p.138 important conf 90%
Net debt / EBITDA ratio was 2.0x at year-end, down from 2.2x the year before.
Why it matters: A ratio of 2x means the company could repay all its debt from two years of earnings — this is a healthy level for a big retailer.
p.28 useful conf 95%
Operating profit was £2,711m and net finance costs were £746m, giving interest cover of approximately 3.6x.
Why it matters: The company earns £3.60 for every £1 of interest it owes — this is a comfortable buffer and means it is unlikely to struggle to pay interest bills.
p.135 useful conf 90%
Adjusted net finance costs (excluding fair value movements and pension items) dropped from £558m to £536m, mainly due to lower interest rates on medium-term notes after refinancing.
Why it matters: Lower interest costs mean more of the company's profits stay in the business rather than going to lenders.
p.27 useful conf 90%
Total IFRS 16 lease liabilities were £7,716m (current £618m, non-current £7,098m) at 22 Feb 2025, versus £7,622m a year ago.
Why it matters: Tesco rents a huge number of stores and warehouses, so this large lease bill is expected for a business of this type and has barely changed year on year.
p.28, p.160 useful conf 95%
Undiscounted lease payments total £10,876m: £995m due within 1 year, £3,663m in years 1–5, and £6,218m beyond 5 years.
Why it matters: The payments are spread out a long way into the future, so there is no big lump sum due soon that could put the company under pressure.
p.160 useful conf 90%
Net debt before lease liabilities was £1,738m at 22 Feb 2025, down from £2,062m the year before — a reduction of £324m.
Why it matters: Stripping out the lease debt (which is linked to stores the company operates), the core borrowing is modest relative to the size of the business.
p.28 useful conf 95%
Total liquidity at year-end was £3.6bn, including cash, highly liquid short-term deposits, and money market investments.
Why it matters: The company holds enough cash to cover more than two years of current borrowing repayments, giving it a very strong short-term safety cushion.
p.28 useful conf 90%
Fixed charge cover (a measure of how easily the company covers all fixed financial obligations) rose from 3.8x to 4.2x year on year.
Why it matters: A higher ratio means the company more easily covers all its fixed bills — this improvement signals the business is in better financial shape than last year.
p.28 useful conf 90%
The annual report makes no mention of any breach of loan conditions, waivers from lenders, or covenant violations.
Why it matters: If there were problems with loan conditions, lenders could demand early repayment — the absence of any such issue means the company's debt is on stable ground.
p.28 useful conf 85%
Non-current borrowings were £5,089m and current borrowings were £1,861m at 22 Feb 2025, giving total drawn borrowings of approximately £6,950m.
Why it matters: Most of the debt is long-dated (not due within a year), which reduces the risk of the company needing to find large amounts of cash quickly to repay lenders.
p.137 useful conf 90%
Specialist deep panels · Structured price capture
Below the prose findings, each agent publishes a structured numeric metrics block. Segmental revenue, named KPIs with YoY %, and capital-structure metrics — direct from the source filings.
Segmental analysis
Top-segment revenue concentration: 93.8% · Segment totals reconcile to the group P&L
Strategic KPIs
Capital structure
Management questions · Open inquiry
Generated by the AI from the disclosure gaps it detected. Hover or tap each card to surface the underlying evidence that triggered the question.
Verification gaps
High-trust analysis names its own blind spots. These are metrics the AI looked for and couldn't find — anything material to the summary needs management or independent verification.
No agent reported missing data; all key segments, capital structure metrics and strategic KPIs were covered with high confidence, though Central Europe segment profitability detail is limited to top-line margin disclosure without a full cost breakdown.
08 · Documents
Filing pattern + upcoming windows
Due at Companies House by 26 August 2026 for the period ending 26 February 2026.
Annual confirmation due by 2 July 2027 (made up to 18 June 2027).
Final chapter — What we found
Mixed signals
The tills keep ringing at £70bn — but the profit is quietly leaking out the back door through rising costs.
FY2025 audited accounts
The five plain-English briefing questions are on Origin — read the story first, then return here for the TrustScore scorecard.
Signal Radar
Decisive findings
The hard-hit facts that drove the score. Full breakdown — chapters, between-the-lines, all specialist findings — sits on AI Insights.
UK & ROI revenue was £65,583m in 52 weeks ended 22 Feb 2025 vs £63,691m prior year. Central Europe was £4,333m vs £4,496m. Total group revenue was £69,916m vs £68,187m.
Why it matters: Almost all of Tesco's sales come from one region, so any slowdown in the UK would hit the whole business very hard.
p.11 · Segmental Analysis
10 · Verification
This report reads the full filing package — digital iXBRL where available, the filed PDF (including notes), and the Companies House register — not a single uploaded document.
Figures are as filed by the company — Companies House does not verify the accuracy of information filed. Verif-AI checks internal consistency and flags anomalies, but cannot confirm the underlying figures are correct.
Reconciliation
Every balance-sheet and profit & loss line traced to where we read it in the filing. iXBRL — read straight from the company's audited machine-readable tags, so it ties exactly. PDF — read from the filed accounts document, with the supporting note cited so you can check it. Flagged — our consistency check marked it for a closer look.
33 read from audited iXBRL tags · 0 from the filed PDF.
What we read
Who we cross-checked
Screening status
Screened 71 names (registered company + officers/PSCs) against live lists: FCDO Consolidated UK Sanctions List — 57503 entries, refreshed 04 July 2026 · OFAC SDN (US Treasury) + akaName aliases + relationship graph — 39437 entries, refreshed 04 July 2026 · EU Consolidated Financial Sanctions — 29880 entries, refreshed 04 July 2026 · UK Parliament — current Members of Commons & Lords — 1441 entries, refreshed 04 July 2026 · Companies House — Disqualified Directors register, checked 04 July 2026.
Steps we ran
Pipeline — what ran on this report
Limits and caveats
No PSCs are recorded against this entity — typical for listed PLCs (widely held by institutional investors) and for dormant / micro-entity filings.