Tesco: ‘Don’t hike prices’

Britain’s biggest retailer Tesco has warned its multinational suppliers against pushing up prices after a drop in the pound so they can maintain their reported profits.

In his first public comments since last month’s ‘Marmitegate’ row in the UK between Unilever and Tesco over who should take the hit from the weaker pound, the supermarket’s chief executive Dave Lewis said that when there is a currency devaluation, multinational businesses present results in both constant and current exchange rates.

“And the City (financial investors) completely understands it, they don’t devalue a stock because of that, they understand it’s part of the volatility of being in many countries,” Mr Lewis said.