VS Series
Tesco v Asda
The market leader against the challenger that changed hands
Tesco leads on all five measures that matter most: turnover, pre-tax profit, profit margin, growth and net assets. Tesco is the biggest by turnover at £73,712m, against £24,054m at Asda. Tesco keeps more of every £100 it takes, £3.26 as pre-tax profit.
The year ends are close enough to compare like for like. Tesco files group accounts that include subsidiaries; Asda files for a single company, which flatters the group on size.
Accounts compared: Tesco to Feb 2026 · Asda to Dec 2025
Who they are
Tesco
Tesco PLC · 00445790Tesco is a supermarket group selling groceries, household goods and clothing through its stores and online.In brief: supermarket group · stores and online · Booker wholesale · listedFull profile →Asda
Asda Stores Limited · 00464777Asda is a supermarket chain selling groceries, George clothing and general merchandise.In brief: supermarket chain · groceries, clothing and general merchandise · own stores and online delivery · George clothing brandFull profile →The Numbers
The leader on each measure is marked. Movements are against each company's own prior year. Pre-tax profit is filed except where marked (est.).
Category winners
The Takeaway
- Tesco converts the most of its turnover. Of every £100, £3.26 reaches pre-tax profit, against a loss of £7.11 at Asda.
- Tesco is the largest on the top line, £73,712m of turnover, 3.1x Asda's £24,054m.
- Tesco is growing fastest, turnover +5.4% on its own prior year.
- Tesco is the biggest employer with 227,188 people; Tesco pays the most per head, an average staff cost of about £42,000.
- Tesco has the largest balance sheet, net assets of £11,463m.
Who keeps the most of every £100 of sales?
Tesco keeps the most: £3.26 of every £100 of turnover becomes pre-tax profit. Asda does worst, losing £7.11.
Financing bites hardest at Asda: £2.10 of every £100 goes on interest.
Every profit figure here is the one the company filed.
The chart splits each company's turnover into £100: what goes on people, on interest and on everything else, and what is left as profit.
Out of every £100 of turnover
Each column is £100 of that company's own turnover, so companies of any size compare on one scale; the figures are pounds out of each £100, not millions. Companies run from the best margin to the worst. Payroll is staff costs, financing is interest paid, other running costs are everything else, and profit is pre-tax profit, filed or estimated as marked in the table. A loss is not an extra cost: it is the part of the costs that runs past the £100 line, marked with a red bracket. Hover over any segment for its figure.
Who is the biggest, and does the comparison hold?
By turnover the order is Tesco (£73,712m), Asda (£24,054m).
By headcount, Tesco leads with 227,188 employees.
The accounting periods all end within 2 months of each other. The bases differ: group accounts include the businesses a company owns, single-company accounts do not.
Turnover on the latest filing
Who is growing fastest?
Tesco grew fastest, turnover +5.4% on its own prior year, ahead of Asda (+1.2%).
Turnover change on each company's own prior year
Who employs the most, who pays the most, and who brings in the most per head?
Tesco employs the most, 227,188 people, against 129,158 at Asda.
Tesco has the highest average staff cost, about £42,000 a head; Asda the lowest, about £24,000.
Tesco brings in the most turnover per employee, about £324,000, against £186,000 at Asda. It says as much about the business model as the workforce: a marketplace or a wholesaler needs far fewer people per pound than a restaurant or a gym.
Who owns each one?
Ownership as recorded on the Companies House register of people with significant control, in the bands the register uses.
Owned by its shareholders
Listed on the London Stock Exchange, so no single controller appears on the register. 2 outstanding charges on the register.
Who owns Tesco →
Asda Stores Limited · 00464777Held by Asda Group Limited
A company recorded as a person with significant control. 26 outstanding charges on the register.
Who owns Asda →
What does the full ledger show?
| Measure | Tesco | Asda |
|---|---|---|
| Registered name | TESCO PLC | ASDA STORES LIMITED |
| Company number | 00445790 | 00464777 |
| Incorporated | 1947 | 1949 |
| Accounts filed | 25 July 2026 | 16 September 2026 |
| Turnover, prior year | £69,916m | £23,774m |
| Pre-tax profit, prior year | n/d | -£834m |
| Staff costs | £9,461m | £3,089m |
| Payroll share of turnover | 12.8% | 12.8% |
| Employees, prior year | 229,140 | 131,027 |
| Dividends paid | £936m | n/d |
| Charges outstanding | 2 | 26 |
A figure the filing does not disclose is shown as n/d; a zero in a filing is treated as not disclosed. Rounding: below £0.1m in thousands, £0.1m to £2m to one decimal place, above that to the nearest million.
Tesco v Asda: common questions
Who is the biggest of Tesco or Asda?
Tesco, with turnover of £73,712m in the year to February 2026.
Which makes the most profit?
Tesco: £2,403m pre-tax in the year to February 2026.
Which employs the most people?
Tesco, with 227,188 employees in its latest accounts.
Tesco or Asda: which is bigger?
Tesco, with turnover of £73,712m against £24,054m at Asda on their latest filings. On margin, Tesco keeps more of each £100 as pre-tax profit. The full head to head is in the VS Series. Read the VS page →
Where do these figures come from?
Each company's latest accounts filed at Companies House. Each links to its full Spark Intel profile, which names the filing it comes from.
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10 companies compared →