Tesco - another fail

[crankedup]

Following another three years of poor and falling profits the C.E.O. has thrown in the towel. Will he be passing back all the incentives offered to turn around the mighty Titanic that is Tesco's, of course not! It used to be a relative doddle to run decent profits year on year back pre 2008, now the market is far more challenging we see the true 'worth' of so called 'top people' without whom nobody would have a job Forward thinking long term strategies, they couldn't have done much worse.

[tenpenceshort]

crankedup said:

Following another three years of poor and falling profits the C.E.O. has thrown in the towel. Will he be passing back all the incentives offered to turn around the mighty Titanic that is Tesco's, of course not! It used to be a relative doddle to run decent profits year on year back pre 2008, now the market is far more challenging we see the true 'worth' of so called 'top people' without whom nobody would have a job Forward thinking long term strategies, they couldn't have done much worse.

Hey, how about some sympathy? Not everyone has your experience of running multi-billion pound international retailers, you know.

Morrisons, Asda and Sainsburys are all flying along, aren't they!

[Hackney]

crankedup said:

Following another three years of poor and falling profits the C.E.O. has thrown in the towel. Will he be passing back all the incentives offered to turn around the mighty Titanic that is Tesco's, of course not! It used to be a relative doddle to run decent profits year on year back pre 2008, now the market is far more challenging we see the true 'worth' of so called 'top people' without whom nobody would have a job Forward thinking long term strategies, they couldn't have done much worse.

"Another three" or just three?

So when it was a relative doddle were all these CEOs asking for salary reductions? Returning their bonuses? What with it being such a piece of piss to run a top company? Or where they even then at the mercy of investors who see falling profits, rather than the actual (and frankly grotesque) profit of £3.3 billion? (16th April this yr)

Capitalism, where any number is never enough.

Clarke isn't the problem, he never was. But he's the sacrificial David Moyes, coming into the role after someone who could do no wrong. Someone so worshipped that the actual state he left the business / club in has been massively overlooked.

[DoubleSix]

Well said.

It is interesting they've made an external appointment for the first time. Perhaps an admission that they're a little lost for ideas internally.

[Funkycoldribena]

The trouble is Tesco got too greedy.Prices even now are way dearer than some other equal stores,a lot of people ditched Tesco because of this (myself inc.)and its very hard to turn that around,especially with the likes of B and M,Homebargains even Poundland cutting into the market.

[greygoose]

Not sure he had a good inheritance to take over really.

[TheInternet]

tenpenceshort said:

Hey, how about some sympathy? Not everyone has your experience of running multi-billion pound international retailers, you know.

Morrisons, Asda and Sainsburys are all flying along, aren't they!

Tesco is the standout poor performer in the industry. The issues they face are endemic from top to bottom and will take years to resolve.

[DoubleSix]

TheInternet said:

tenpenceshort said:

Hey, how about some sympathy? Not everyone has your experience of running multi-billion pound international retailers, you know.

Morrisons, Asda and Sainsburys are all flying along, aren't they!

Tesco is the standout poor performer in the industry. The issues they face are endemic from top to bottom and will take years to resolve.

Buffet seems happy to take get on board. 5% yield may prove supportive (so long as it isn't cut).

[crankedup]

tenpenceshort said:

crankedup said:

Following another three years of poor and falling profits the C.E.O. has thrown in the towel. Will he be passing back all the incentives offered to turn around the mighty Titanic that is Tesco's, of course not! It used to be a relative doddle to run decent profits year on year back pre 2008, now the market is far more challenging we see the true 'worth' of so called 'top people' without whom nobody would have a job Forward thinking long term strategies, they couldn't have done much worse.

Hey, how about some sympathy? Not everyone has your experience of running multi-billion pound international retailers, you know.

Morrisons, Asda and Sainsburys are all flying along, aren't they!

Sympathy you say! go ask some Tesco shareholders if they feel sympathy! no such thing in business whether your a shareholder or competitor.
Morrisons are on a downturn, Haven't looked at Sainsbury's but Asda are OK. Good retailing C.E.O.'s in the middle market must have seen the writing on the wall regarding expansion of their current business models post 2008. Lidl gave enough hints years ago that it was taking market share from the middle market supermarkets. Not sure if it was arrogance or simply unwittingly burying head in sand that have left Tesco floundering, perhaps simply took their eye off the ball.

[DoubleSix]

crankedup said:

tenpenceshort said:

crankedup said:

Following another three years of poor and falling profits the C.E.O. has thrown in the towel. Will he be passing back all the incentives offered to turn around the mighty Titanic that is Tesco's, of course not! It used to be a relative doddle to run decent profits year on year back pre 2008, now the market is far more challenging we see the true 'worth' of so called 'top people' without whom nobody would have a job Forward thinking long term strategies, they couldn't have done much worse.

Hey, how about some sympathy? Not everyone has your experience of running multi-billion pound international retailers, you know.

Morrisons, Asda and Sainsburys are all flying along, aren't they!

Sympathy you say! go ask some Tesco shareholders if they feel sympathy! no such thing in business whether your a shareholder or competitor.
Morrisons are on a downturn, Haven't looked at Sainsbury's but Asda are OK. Good retailing C.E.O.'s in the middle market must have seen the writing on the wall regarding expansion of their current business models post 2008. Lidl gave enough hints years ago that it was taking market share from the middle market supermarkets. Not sure if it was arrogance or simply unwittingly burying head in sand that have left Tesco floundering, perhaps simply took their eye off the ball.

The expansion into the hypermarket space seems particularly ill judged I must say.

[crankedup]

greygoose said:

Not sure he had a good inheritance to take over really.

He was appointed with the fundamental task of turning Tesco around, the towel has been thrown in after three years. The sheer scale of the Corporation must prompt a close look (likely completed)at breaking up this juggernaut into more manageable slices.

[tenpenceshort]

TheInternet said:

tenpenceshort said:

Hey, how about some sympathy? Not everyone has your experience of running multi-billion pound international retailers, you know.

Morrisons, Asda and Sainsburys are all flying along, aren't they!

Tesco is the standout poor performer in the industry. The issues they face are endemic from top to bottom and will take years to resolve.

An issue they've all had is that, through being financially squeezed, a larger than expected chunk of the population have been 'forced' to sample Aldi and Lidl and have unexpectedly liked it and stayed there. Additionally, the explosion of their own, smaller, convenience format stores has seen declining use of the better margin out-of-town ones.

My OP above was pretty sarcasm laden, but in reality I don't think any of the big retailers are having a very good time at the moment and so it's glib to single out Clarke as a poor performer. Justin King and Dalton Philips both have significant problems of their own.

[markcoznottz]

Did they really have any USP over thier competition? It seem they just supercharged themselves from late 90's on, to get bigger uk market share, and ride the credit bubble. They should have taken note of sainsburys business model, fly low and straight, unspectacular. Because the bigger they are, the harder they fall etc

[Hackney]

hora said:

I can't say I feel sorry for Tesco's. They've always shouted 'value' but really apart from the actual value lines they weren't really that cheap at all. It was all about managing punters perceptions. They have all been as bad as each other.

What Tesco's excelled at was buying land/'dealing' with planning departments etc etc.

Lidl and Aldi coming in opened customers eyes abit I think. We've all been groomed to believe Tesco's were the cheap and value option.

And their communication strategy clearly needs work as some people think they're called "Tesco's", rather than "Tesco"

[TheInternet]

markcoznottz said:

Did they really have any USP over thier competition?

Nobody makes a special effort to go to a Tesco, all they have is a prolific littering of shops and are reliant on the apathy of shoppers.

[Pappa Lurve]

crankedup said:

Following another three years of poor and falling profits the C.E.O. has thrown in the towel. Will he be passing back all the incentives offered to turn around the mighty Titanic that is Tesco's, of course not! It used to be a relative doddle to run decent profits year on year back pre 2008, now the market is far more challenging we see the true 'worth' of so called 'top people' without whom nobody would have a job Forward thinking long term strategies, they couldn't have done much worse.

If it is so easy to do those kind of jobs, may I enquire as to why they didn't hire you?

[gpo746]

At times Tesco can do itself few favours.
Its pricing structure is all over the place. Clearly the Tesco express stores are designed to maximise profit but the price of some items in them is farcical when compared to the larger Tesco's
Sainsbury's and Morrisons also offer smaller stores but the price variance between smaller and larger isn't anywhere near as wide.

I started using ASDA more myself.

[Fotic]

Pappa Lurve said:

crankedup said:

Following another three years of poor and falling profits the C.E.O. has thrown in the towel. Will he be passing back all the incentives offered to turn around the mighty Titanic that is Tesco's, of course not! It used to be a relative doddle to run decent profits year on year back pre 2008, now the market is far more challenging we see the true 'worth' of so called 'top people' without whom nobody would have a job Forward thinking long term strategies, they couldn't have done much worse.

If it is so easy to do those kind of jobs, may I enquire as to why they didn't hire you?

Is it not possible for someone to criticise someone/thing without a poster immediately saying 'if it's that easy, why don't you do it??'? We see a lot of it on PH and it's quite bizarre - you're effectively arguing the case of the person/thing but without any substance.

[Baryonyx]

DoubleSix said:

Well said.

It is interesting they've made an external appointment for the first time. Perhaps an admission that they're a little lost for ideas internally.

Lost for ideas?

Their profits outstrip the GDP of many a country!

[Guybrush]

The old cartel has at last been challenged by Aldi and Lidl. They've got a lot of waking up to do as much of the staffing hierarchy was built upon easier profits. Much culling required I should think - and cut the old craap of weekly pretend price reductions and multiple purchase deals, none of which really save you any money, but which are just designed to confuse.