Tesco explores selling Tesco Bank to raise up to £1bn in much-needed capital

Monday, 03 November 2014 08:23

Supermarket chain Tesco is believed to be looking into selling its banking arm, Tesco Bank, which could raise anything between £500m to £1bn.

The sale would bring in some much-needed capital for the retailer which recently conceded the extent of its accounting irregularities late last month.

According to The Telegraph, chief executive Dave Lewis has had to consider the sale of Tesco Bank and other assets such as its Asian operations, thought to be worth between £8bn and £10bn, and the Clubcard scheme following the supermarket's string of financial problems.

A sale of video streaming service Blinkbox is currently underway as analysts at HSBC estimate the cost of turning the supermarket giant around could reach £3bn.

Currently Tesco Bank has around six million customers with more than 4,000 members of staff however financial figures for the banking arm, released alongside Tesco's half-year results, showed bank profits had fallen from £104.7m to £80m on the back of bad debts.

Last modified on Monday, 03 November 2014 08:35