MPs may step in over £250m Tesco blunder

Tesco executives may be hauled before MPs to explain the supermarket giant’s “stratospheric” error over its inflated profits guidance.
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Adrian Bailey, chairman of Parliament’s Business, Innovation and Skills Committee, told BBC Radio 5 Live it was “unbelievable” that a company of 
Tesco’s size could get into such a mess.

He said bosses could be called before the committee to be grilled over the £250m overstatement, with any inquiry likely to be extended to cover the wider UK grocery industry and its relationship with suppliers.

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The UK’s accountancy watchdog, the Financial Reporting Council, has said it is monitoring the situation at Tesco closely but is powerless to do anything until the supermarket’s own investigation has been completed.

Tesco issued its fourth profits warning of the year on Monday in a bombshell statement that sent its shares to their lowest level in a decade.

However, backing for the embattled chain came from an unlikely source yesterday when Sports Direct International, which is controlled by Newcastle United owner Mike Ashley, placed a £43m bet on the supermarket’s recovery.

The retailer has entered into a put option agreement over 23 million shares, representing a 0.3 per cent stake in the supermarket business. Sports Direct said: “This investment reflects Sports Direct’s growing relationship with Tesco and belief in Tesco’s long-term future.”