Rishi Sunak could have designed better pandemic policies but Tesco could have refused freebie
Back in April, Tesco chief executive Dave Lewis played it cute. The £635m final dividend for shareholders related to the supermarket’s pre-pandemic performance in 2019, he said, so please don’t call it a taxpayer-funded windfall courtesy of Rishi Sunak’s business rates giveaway for retailers. The rates relief would eventually be worth £585m to Tesco, but mostly in the next financial year.
New boss Ken Murphy has no such excuse. Tesco’s latest £315m divi relates to a six-month period in which £249m of relief was actually felt in reported profits. It’s not much of a stretch to say taxpayers delivered a large sum to Tesco’s front door while a roughly equivalent amount will be dispatched out the back to shareholders.
