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TESCO STAFF SHARE IN £144 MILLION PAYOUT FROM SAVE AS YOU EARN SHARE SCHEME

Tesco

4 February 2010

Employees at Tesco are this month reaping the rewards of saving
in the company’s Save As You Earn share schemes. Over 55,000
members of staff, who have saved between £5 and £50 a
month for the past 5 and 3 years, are sharing a £144.4m
payout with returns of 100% and 44% for each scheme
respectively.
Over 9,000 top savers, who have contributed the maximum
£50 every month for the past five years, a total of
£3,000 each, will receive more than £6,000. The strong
return reflects the fact that, even in difficult market conditions,
Tesco’s share price has remained resilient closing at
£4.22* on 1st February when the two schemes matured.
Offering an incentive to save money for the future, staff take
up for the Tesco SAYE scheme across the UK and Republic of Ireland
in 2009 reached over 77,000 – 8,000 more than the previous
year - all of whom will receive a pay out, or have the opportunity
to retain their shares, when the schemes mature in 2013 and
2015.
David Potts, Retail Director for Tesco commented;
“Tesco’s Save As You Earn scheme has really delivered
for thousands of employees this year. With reports suggesting that
2010 could be another year of stretching personal budgets for many
people, today’s returns will be a very welcome boost to
income and are well deserved for the continued dedication and hard
work of our colleagues.”
NOTES TO EDITORS
*Closing price, 1st February 2010
Employee case studies available
About the schemes:
Under the SAYE scheme, Tesco employees with a minimum of 12 months
service can contribute between £5 and £50 of their
salary into the scheme every four weeks for a period of three or
five years.  When the scheme matures, each employee receives a
tax free cash bonus and they are given the option to reinvest the
total amount to buy Tesco shares at a discounted option price set
when they joined the scheme.  Employees then have the choice
to sell their shares immediately or keep the shares to sell at a
later date.
Employees who joined the scheme five years ago can buy shares at
the 2004 option price of £2.32 each, while those who joined
the scheme three years ago can buy shares at the 2006 price of
£3.07.
For more information please call Emma Bowden/Karen Butcher at
The Wriglesworth Consultancy: 020 7427 1400
e.bowden@wriglesworth.com

Or the Tesco press office: 01992 644 645