"The big opportunity for us is that if we put our customer right back at the center of everything we do, then I'm really very hopeful we can get Tesco back to the force it has been in the years and decades before now," Lewis told reporters on Thursday.

"I think there is a fantastic offer out there already but I see some opportunities to improve. (Price) is something I keep constantly under review, but I think there are an awful lot of opportunities for us to improve our offer in a number of ways."

The company's Chief Financial Officer Alan Stewart said the leverage on the company's balance sheet was higher than he would like, and the turnaround strategy would determine what the right funding for the balance sheet would be.

"There is leverage in the balance sheet and that leverage is higher than I would like, but I think the strategy is the important part to come first, from the strategy we will determine the opportunities for the business and we'll determine what the right funding for the business is," he said.

(Reporting by Paul Sandle; Editing by Neil Maidment)