CHESHUNT, HERTFORDSHIRE - Tesco, the UK’s biggest supermarket reported its poorest-ever results, with a total loss of over £6.38 billion ($9.58 billion) for the 2014 year.

This loss is somewhat of a shock compared to the company’s 2013 annual profit of £2.26 billion ($3.4 billion).

“It has been a very difficult year for Tesco,” said Tesco CEO Dave Lewis. “The results we have published today reflect a deterioration in the market and, more significantly, an erosion of our competitiveness over recent years. We have faced into this reality, sought to draw a line under the past and begun to rebuild, and already we are beginning to see early encouraging signs from what we’ve done so far.”

As we previously reported, prior to the release of the results, Barclays analysts were projecting that Tesco's deficits would be only about £5 billion ($7.3 billion).

According to The Telegraph, the company’s losses are a result of falling profits, sales, and the closure of more than 40 Tesco locations.

“We are making deep changes to the way we organize and run our business, with a simpler, more agile office team, more colleagues serving customers and a new approach to the way we work with suppliers,” Lewis continued. “I do not underestimate how difficult some of these changes have been for the team and I thank everyone for their professionalism and contribution at this time of great change.”

Other highlights from the report include:

• Total group sales for 2014 were £69.6 billion
• Group trading profits for 2014 were £1.49 billion
• UK like-for-like sales volumes up for first time in over four years
• A loss of £4.7 billion for fixed asset impairments

Lewis continued that he does not expect any let up on challenges in the months ahead. His priority, however, is to deliver sustainable value for Tesco’s shareholders and improve consistently for customers.

Stay tuned to AndNowUKnow for continued financial information on all the industry’s major retailers.

Tesco