Tesco share price: Snack maker Orion interested in grocer’s South Korean arm

South Korean snack maker Orion said it was considering bidding for Tesco’s (LON:TSCO) South Korean arm, Homeplus. In a statement released yesterday, Orion said that it was yet to decide on whether to make a formal offer, although it had received an information memorandum about the sale of the business.

The planned disposal of Homeplus, Tesco’s biggest operations outside of its home UK market, comes after the company announced in April a record £6.4 billion annual loss, as it slashed billions off the value of its property portfolio. The South Korean business, valued at about £3.9 billon, has also been under pressure, recording at least two straight years of declines in same-store sales.
Separately, Tesco’s online operation, Tesco.com, has been ranked the most visible British supermarket website on mobile phone searches of Google UK, performing three times better than nearest rival Asda.com, according to a new research released today. The study, conducted by search and content optimisation group Searchmetrics, reveals that leading supermarket websites, which perform well in desktop searches also perform well in mobile phone searches in the wake of the recent Google mobile-friendly update.
Tesco outperformed rivals in both mobile and desktop searches with a mobile visibility score of 633,970 and a desktop visibility score of 607,450 — over three times higher than the scores for second-placed Asda in both mobile and desktop searches. In third place was Sainsbury’s (LON:SBRY), followed by Waitrose and Morrisons (LON:MRW).
Tesco’s share price was relatively stable in early trading today, but edged lower in the afternoon. As of 13:57 BST, the stock was changing hands at 212.75p – 0.58 percent down intraday.
As of 14:38 BST, Tuesday, 16 June, Tesco PLC share price is 211.30p.