By Mark Kleinman, City Editor
A shortfall in half-year profits at Tesco which plunged Britain's biggest retailer into crisis is next week expected to be disclosed to have been smaller than initially feared.
Sky News understands that the supermarket chain plans to announce alongside its first-half results on Thursday that it had previously overstated earnings by between £200m and £250m.
The final figure was likely to be somewhere close to the middle of that range, a banking source said.
The numbers are still being prepared by Tesco's auditors this weekend and a final figure for the mis-statement will not be identified until the middle of the week, according to the source.
If the accounting error is below the £250m figure indicated last month, however, the news will be greeted with relief by the City following speculation that it could have to inflate that number substantially.
Dave Lewis, Tesco's chief executive, told staff yesterday that he expected to be able to give a "clear and accurate indication" of the company's performance during the first half of the year.
An investigation being undertaken by Deloitte and Freshfields will not be completed in time for the results announcement but is understood to point towards there being no requirement at this stage for previous years' profits to be restated.
Eight executives have been asked to stand aside to facilitate the probe, which is focused on payments from Tesco's suppliers.
Sky News also understands that Tesco has asked Greenhill, the investment bank, to field offers from bidders for assets such as Dunnhumby, the marketing services group behind the grocer's Clubcard loyalty scheme.
Sources said that Advent International, TPG and at least one other firm had enquired about Dunnhumby's availability but were being told that Mr Lewis was not keen to hold talks about a deal at this time.
Tesco owns a number of businesses - including an Asian retail empire valued by some analysts at up to £10bn - which could be sold if its board decides it needs to raise capital.
The accounting crisis has triggered investigations by the Financial Conduct Authority and Financial Reporting Council, and raised questions about the future of chairman Sir Richard Broadbent.
Tesco declined to comment.
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