Tesco to sell off land to lure consumers

London - Britain's Tesco, battling plunging profits in mainland Europe, is to sell off land around its stores in Poland for development to make the sites more attractive to shoppers.

"In order to attract complementary services such as restaurants and other leisure facilities to some of our existing stores in Poland, we intend to sell areas of undeveloped land next to some of our stores," a spokesperson for the world's No. 3 retailer said on Tuesday.

Last month Tesco, which has invested £1bn ($1.6bn) in a turnaround plan for its core British market, reported second-quarter underlying sales declines in all ten of its overseas markets. Like-for-like sales fell 4.5% in Poland.

The firm also posted a 68% slump in first-half trading profit in its European division, made up of Poland, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Slovakia, Turkey and Ireland.

Poland is Tesco's largest central European market with over 400 stores.

Thirty-five properties, totalling 30 hectares, intended for commercial developments and located largely near existing Tesco stores, have been put up for sale, said Cushman & Wakefield, the real estate services firm which is advising and representing the retailer in the sale process.

Shares in Tesco closed down 0.3% at 357 pence, valuing the business at about £29bn.