Tesco pays first dividend in three years as turnaround gathers momentum
London — Tesco, Britain’s biggest retailer, will pay a dividend for the first time in three years, signalling further progress in its recovery from crisis under CEO Dave Lewis. The supermarket group also reported a 27% rise in first-half profit and its seventh straight quarter of underlying sales growth in its home market, as it successfully navigated an inflationary environment. However, after an initial rise after the news on Wednesday, Tesco’s shares were flat by midmorning and are down 8% so far this year — reflecting lingering concern about the merits of its £3.7bn agreed bid for wholesaler Booker and a need to increase contributions to cut its pension deficit. The stock was trading at 230p when Lewis joined in September 2014 and closed on Tuesday at 190p. Lewis has been leading the fightback after Tesco’s sales and profit were hammered by changing shopping habits, the rise of the German discounters Aldi and Lidl, and a 2014 accounting scandal that plunged the firm into its wor...
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