RETAIL analysts have warned this could be the "end of an era" for Tesco after the market leading supermarket chain slumped to a record £6.4 billion loss and saw its shares tumble more than five per cent.

However its Scottish based bank provided a welcome bright spot after announcing customer numbers had risen by around 300,000 to a record 7.4 million.

Tesco chief executive Dave Lewis, who joined in the autumn, said the loss was mainly a result of £7bn worth of writedowns.

Those include £3.9bn from the value of its existing property portfolio and another £925m off work in progress. There was an additional £878m writedown on goodwill and other impairments which included £116m on the Dobbies garden centres business and UK companies Tesco owns.

There was also £416m for restructuring, a £570m stock charge and a £208m adjustment for the realisation of commercial income from prior years.

The price war among UK rivals took its toll with trading profits tumbling 79 per cent to £467 million in the 53 weeks to February 28. Tesco said profit margin in the UK was just one per cent while trading in Asia and Europe remains difficult.

Investors were unimpressed as the shares closed down 12.1p, or 5.15 per cent, at 222.65p.

John Ibbotson, of consultancy Retail Vision, said: "This is the official end of the Tesco era. The irony is that Tesco is on the right path. Amid the extensive wreckage left by his predecessors, Dave Lewis has done all the right things, and made all the tough decisions, to put Tesco back on track.

"But 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."

Tesco has agreed to pump £270m a year into its pension scheme in a bid to trim a deficit that widened from £2.6bn to £3.9bn.

Mr Lewis said the company has added a net 4,652 customer facing jobs since September as part of his plan to improve service levels in stores.

He believes there have been encouraging signs of progress in recent signs but remained cautious and said: "The market is still challenging and 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."

Many analysts voiced concerns with Richard Hunter, at Hargreaves Lansdown, describing the impairments as "eye-watering" amid a "wholly disappointing set of numbers".

He said: "In addition, the outlook for the business remains unclear as management seek to spin several plates at once, with focus on such matters as the general restructuring, cost savings and an effort to regain some competitive composure."

Brewin Dolphin was similarly downbeat and does not see Tesco reinstating its dividend during 2016 and 2017 and said: "We remain convinced that there will not be an improvement in trading profit at least for the next couple of years when a market equilibrium is restored, hopefully with fewer large stores

"However, like-for-like sales could turn positive, which would be well received by the market. The high level of debt remains a concern, although we think the sale of Dunnhumby and hopefully other assets will help cut debt."

At Tesco Bank customer numbers rose by 300,000 to 7.4 million as it saw increasing take-up of its mortgages, personal loans and credit cards.

There was also a benefit from the launch of its first current account in the middle of last year and which had seen 30,000 products opened by the end of the financial year.

Underlying profit before tax rise almost six per cent from £210m to £221.9m while customer lending jumped 7.6 per cent to £7.7bn.

The bank, which employs 4,000 people with the bulk of those in Edinburgh and Glasgow, has deposit and withdrawal facilities at around 300 Tesco stores.