Tesco Warned By PwC

The Telegraph reports that PwC, Tesco’s auditor, warned in the company’s annual report in May that it was concerned about how income from commercial deals with suppliers was recognised. It listed the issue as its primary area of focus “because of the judgement required in accounting for the commercial income deals and the risk of manipulation of these balances”.

In response, Ken Hanna, chairman of Tesco’s audit committee, wrote:

“The committee notes that commercial income was an area of focus for the external auditors based on their assessment of gross risks. It is the committee’s view that while commercial income is a significant income for the group and involves an element of judgement, management operates an appropriate control environment which minimises risks in this area. As a result, the committee does not consider that this is a significant issue for disclosure in its report.”

Given that the auditors warned about this in May, does this mean that the previous year's profits were overstated?