SUPERMARKET giant Tesco has slumped to a £6.4 billion annual loss after taking a massive write-down on the value of its property portfolio.

The bottom-line loss for the 12 months to February 28 caps a disastrous year for the chain following an accounting scandal and a series of profit warnings amid a ferocious price war with rivals.

Underlying profits were 68 per cent lower at £961 million in the period but new chief executive Dave Lewis said the company had drawn a line under the past and was seeing some encouraging signs.

The full-year loss – one of the largest in UK corporate history – was driven by £7 billion of one-off items, including £3.8 billion from a review of its store portfolio in light of industry conditions and declining profits.

It also wrote down the value of work-in-progress by £925 million.