Tesco had a rubbish first half of the year

Tesco had a pretty rubbish first six months.

Dave Lewis, the CEO that has now been in the job for 13 months, revealed that the largest supermarket in Britain posted a 55% drop in its first half operating profit and like-for-like sales in the same period fell by 1.1%.

Some may see the sales figures as a victory for Lewis and Tesco because analysts had anticipated a steeper drop of 1.5% in same store sales, excluding petrol.

However, Tesco admitted that the average number of products per range reviewed was reduced by 15%, with prices reduced on 10% of remaining range.

So in other words, Tesco may have slowed the sales drop but revenue is still lower and profits are being hit.

"We have delivered an unprecedented level of change in our business over the last twelve months and it is working. The first half results show sustained improvement across a broad range of key indicators," said Dave Lewis, CEO of Tesco in a statement.

"In the UK, we continue to improve all aspects of our offer for customers, resulting in volume growth which is allowing us to create a virtuous circle of investment.

"Our transformation programme in Europe has accelerated growth and reduced operating expenses, and in Asia, we have gained market share in challenging economic conditions."