Britain’s Tesco says coronavirus costs could reach $1.1 billion

Britain’s biggest retailer Tesco expects to take a hit of up to 925 million pounds ($1.1 billion) from the costs of dealing with the coronavirus pandemic and warned it was unable to give a profit forecast for this financial year.

Britain’s supermarkets have seen a surge in demand as shoppers have stocked up on essential goods such as toilet roll and pasta during a lockdown to contain the spread of the virus.Industry data last week showed UK grocery sales leapt more than a fifth to a record 10.8 billion pounds in the four weeks to March 22.

However, the crisis has come with higher costs, such as social distancing measures that restrict the number of shoppers in store at any one time, expanding online delivery operations, staff bonuses and hiring more employees.

Tesco’s wholesale business is also likely to have been hit hard by the closure of restaurant and cafe customers.

CNBC