Tesco exploring sale of Central Europe operations, FT reports

LONDON, July 8 (Reuters) - Tesco, Britain's biggest food retailer, is exploring a sale of its Central European operations, the group's only sizeable business outside the UK and Ireland, the Financial Times reported on Wednesday.

It said the supermarket group is working with bankers on options for its operations in the Czech Republic, Hungary and Slovakia.

"We never comment on rumour or speculation," a Tesco spokesperson said.

Analysts have long seen the division, which trades from 561 stores, as an anomaly, given that Tesco has since 2015 divested nearly all of its overseas assets, including businesses in South Korea, Thailand and Malaysia, so it can focus on its home market.

The division contributed about 4% of group profit in Tesco's 2025-26 financial year.

Tesco has rarely commented on the central and eastern Europe division's future but in 2023, CEO Ken Murphy told shareholders it was an "integral part" of the group, providing little distraction to management from the core UK business.

The division reported sales of £4.49 billion in 2025/26, up 3.7% at constant exchange rates, and an adjusted operating profit of £115 million, down 0.9%.

The group made profit of £3.15 billion on sales of £66.6 billion.

Tesco has been investing heavily in its home market, where it has a market share of 28%. Sales growth did, however, slow in its first quarter.

Shares in Tesco have increased 6.5% so far this year.

(Reporting by Prerna Bedi in Bengaluru and James Davey in London; Editing by Mrigank Dhaniwala and Chizu Nomiyama )