UK supermarket Tesco plunges into the red

London

BRITAIN'S biggest retailer, supermarket group Tesco, announced on Wednesday that it had plunged into a record loss last year as it took a huge writedown on the value of its property.

Tesco, which was hit by a major crisis last October after accounting errors that overstated profits, reported a loss after tax of £5.74 billion (S$11.62 billion) in the 12 months to the end of February. That compared with a net profit of £974 million in 2013/14, the group said in an earnings statement.

"It has been a very difficult year for Tesco," chief executive Dave Lewis said in the statement. "The results we have published today reflect a deterioration in the market and, more significantly, an erosion of our competitiveness over recen…