UK: Supermarket group Tesco is to sell over 100 of its proposed development sites in the UK and has confirmed the withdrawal of its Fresh & Easy chain from the US market.
The announcements come in the supermarket chain's preliminary report for 2012/13 which shows a rise in sales of 1.3% to £72.4bn. Group trading profits, however, were down by 13%.

The divestment of more than 100 sites - the majority of which were bought between five and ten years ago, at a higher point in the property cycle - has led to a total one-off UK property write-down of £804m.

Following a strategic review of its Fresh & Easy stores, Tesco has now confirmed that it will exit from the United States.

The deteriorating economic conditions are said to have impacted on the business in Europe, as have new opening hour restrictions on large retailers in Korea where it has 458 stores.