Going Down: Tesco

TESCO WAS the biggest decliner on the FT-SE 100 last week, with its shares falling by nearly 11 per cent as investors assessed the implications for food retailers of Wal-Mart's bid for Asda. Supermarkets in the UK enjoy high margins, at least double those of continental European food chains, and so have a lot to lose.

Other retailers whose shares saw sharp falls last week were Kingfisher, whose own bid for Asda was frozen out, Boots and Sainsbury. Analysts think Tesco and Sainsbury could now seek mergers of their own. But supermarkets had one consolation: the Competition Commission is less likely to conclude the industry makes excessive profits.