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Tesco boss Dave Lewis has ruled out a rights issue - that is, offering shareholders the chance to buy new shares as a way to help the firm to raise money - saying it would rather raise cash from asset sales to help reduce debt. "Our aspiration is to maintain the profit level at what it was last year but you should understand that if we feel we have to make further investments to keep the momentum of the business going ... we would," Mr Lewis said.

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The Bank of England's minutes, external show that the decision to leave interest rates at their record low of 0.5% earlier this month was unanimous. The nine members of the Monetary Policy Committee voted to leave rates on hold. The minutes, however, did reveal that for two members the decision remained "finely balanced". Late last year, two members of the MPC, Martin Weale and Ian McCafferty voted in favour of a rate increase, but rejoined the no-hike majority in January after inflation fell.

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It's not just about ego, getting people's job titles right could actually save businesses money, according to global management consultancy, Hay Group, external. Almost two thirds of HR managers (58%) blame poor job descriptions for employees leaving the firm, according to its survey of 750 HR managers. "Get job descriptions wrong and you'll recruit the wrong people, demotivating the team and increasing staff turnover, leading to underperformance," says Iain Fitzpatrick, VP at Hay Group. What say you? bizlivepage@bbc.co.uk

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Mexican restaurant Chipotle's boss admitted last night that the chain's pork shortage causing it to run short on carnitas was "a challenge". "We are exploring options to increase the supply of pork that meets our high standards, " said Steve Ells, founder, chairman and co-chief executive of Chipotle. Yet the restaurant chain still managed to, external break the billion-dollar barrier for the first time in a single quarter. Sales rose 20% to $1.09bn, driven by new restaurant openings.

Image source, Tesco

Tesco's new boss is determined to remain optimistic despite the losses. "More people are buying more things at Tesco - this an important first step," Dave Lewis told journalists on a conference call following the results.

Bernstein analyst Bruno Monteyne is relatively upbeat on Tesco's chances of turning its fortunes around, saying it has as 75% chance of success. "The bull case for Tesco has changed, we are no longer talking of 'excessive pessimism' built into the share price (rights issue, no margin recovery possible), we are now talking about 'how will the recovery look', 'how much would it be worth if all works out' and 'what more do we need to see to back it'," he writes.

Crawford Spence
Warwick Business School

These figures are absolutely huge - nearly the biggest loss in UK corporate history. However, they need to be understood in context. They relate mostly to asset write-downs rather than poor trading performance. Underlying trading performance for Tesco has actually not been too bad in recent months. In many ways Tesco has decided to make these losses now rather than later.

Tesco's shares have eked out a small rise in the first few minutes of trading, currently 0.3% higher at 235.6p. That's despite the supermarket chain announcing the worst loss in its history.

The strong Swiss franc hit pharmaceutical giant Roche's first quarter. The firm reported , externala 3% rise in sales to 11.8bn Swiss francs, but said it would have been 5% if the effect of currency swings was eliminated. Nonetheless, the result was higher than analysts had expected. The Swiss franc has risen sharply since after the Swiss central bank abandoned the cap on the currency's value against the euro.

Tokyo's benchmark index closed above 20,000 for the first time in 15 years. The Nikkei 225 index at the Tokyo Stock Exchange added 1.13%, to finish at 20,133.90. It last closed above the psychologically important 20k level in April 2000.

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Swedish truck maker Volvo has appointed , external47-year old Martin Lundstedt as its new president and chief executive. The former Scania Group boss will take up the new role in October, replacing Olof Persson who has led the firm for the past four years.

Despite announcing the worst results in its history, Mr Lewis has warned this still isn't the end of the bad news for Tesco: "we are not expecting any let up in the months ahead." "When you add to this the fundamental changes we are making to our business and our offer, it is likely to lead to an increased level of volatility in short-term performance," he added.

"This is the official end of the Tesco era," emails John Ibbotson of the retail consultants, Retail Vision. "There's a long way to go yet before the agile new Tesco that is emerging becomes a profitable Tesco once again. And even when it does recover, it will never again be the force it once was. With this huge loss, the decadent retail dynasty of Tesco has come to an end."

Joshua Raymond
City Index analyst

#Tesco property valuation now worth £22.9bn, loss of £7.6bn in 1yr. Basically a 25% decline in value = clearly overstated before.

BBC Radio 4

"Tesco used to be a great innovative company...If you stop innovating you're dead," - Ex-Northern Foods Lord Haskins.

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Rolls-Royce boss John Rishton, who has been at the helm since 2011 and a top executive in various guises for 14 years, says he's decided "it is time for a change in lifestyle". "While there is clearly more to do, the company is better placed to face the future," he adds.

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In terms of how the firm has actually traded - most of these losses are to do with property prices, not selling bread and milk - UK like-for-like sales excluding fuel declined by 3.6%. The firm said it has also agreed a plan with the trustees of its pension scheme to pay £270m a year to help mend its £3.89bn pension deficit. The firm has also started a consultation with staff to replace the current defined benefit pension scheme with a cheaper defined contribution scheme

Kamal Ahmed
BBC Business editor

Tesco has kitchen-sinked it, and thrown in the dishwasher, the washing machine and deep fat fryer as well.

It's not all about Tesco. Rolls-Royce has slipped out an announcement, external revealing that current chief executive John Rishton will retire on 2 July. Warren East, former boss of semi-conductor firm ARM Holdings for 12 years, has been appointed to take the reins.

New Tesco boss Dave Lewis, who took the helm last year, says it has been "a very difficult year". "The results we have published today reflect a deterioration in the market and, more significantly, an erosion of our competitiveness over recent years," he says. Mr Lewis says it now wants to "draw a line under the past." "Already we are beginning to see early encouraging signs from what we've done so far," he says.