Tesco sets out bonus challenge

Bosses at Tesco will not receive a bonus this year unless they can reverse a decline in profits, the UK’s largest supermarket said in its annual report.

The retailer recently posted its first profit fall in two decades and admitted defeat in its six-year effort to break into the US by announcing the closure of its Fresh & Easy chain.

No bonuses were paid to executives last year because the firm missed its profit targets. Chief executive Philip Clarke and finance director Laurie McIlwee received base salaries of £1.12 million and £869,000 respectively.

Stuart Chambers, chairman of the group’s remuneration committee, said bonuses this year will be linked to a “balanced scorecard” of targets but “will only be paid if profits have grown”.