Tesco Kipa

UK retail giant Tesco is facing pressure from 'several of its big shareholders' to sell off its Turkish operation Kipa, according to a report by The Sunday Times.

The newspaper said that falling sales at its European operations – Ireland, central Europe and Turkey saw a drop of 5 per cent for the first half of 2013 – and lower profitability had prompted the calls.

David Herro of Harris Associated, which has a 1.8 per cent stake in Tesco, told The Sunday Times that the company needed to improve Kipa's results or sell it on, while an unidentified investor said that there were questions over Tesco's entire European business.