Tesco Ireland overstated its profits by more than £60m as part of the accounting scandal that rocked the supermarket giant last year.

Tesco Ireland overstated its profits by more than £60m as part of the accounting scandal that rocked the supermarket giant last year.

The grocer has been forced to adjust the profits of its Irish business by €88m (£63m) due to its previous treatment of supplier payments.

The figures were revealed by the Irish Independent in the aftermath of Tesco’s £263m accounting scandal, which came to light last September.

The bulk of that overstatement came in the form of supplier payments, which had been incorrectly booked as profits.

Initially, Tesco said £145m of supplier payments had been incorrectly booked. But at its full-year results last week, the grocer revealed the adjustment had risen by a further £63m to £208m.

Tesco boss Dave Lewis has pledged a radical overhaul of the way the grocer negotiates with suppliers as part of his strategy to rebuild the embattled retailer and create a culture of transparency.

The number of criteria it uses to negotiate with suppliers will plummet from 24 to five this year, before falling further to just three by 2016.

The accounting scandal contributed to Tesco’s biggest ever loss of £6.38bn, which was revealed last week.

The majority of the loss came from £7bn in one-off charges which Tesco said were “predominantly non-cash”, including a £4.7bn write down against its property.

But defiant boss Lewis said the supermarket giant will “behave our way” out of trouble follwing what he called a “difficult year”.