Tesco is reportedly exploring the sale of its central and eastern European operations in various countries, including Hungary, the Czech Republic and Slovakia.

According to The Financial Times, the supermarket is working alongside bankers to explore its options for its stores across Eastern Europe.

This would mark the end of Tesco’s expansion plans outside the UK and Ireland, as the business has sold off most of its international branches already.

Tesco currently operates around 561 stores across Hungary, the Czech Republic and Slovakia based on its latest annual report.

The retailer’s European division posted £4.5 billion of revenues last year, and the entire Tesco reported total group revenues of £66.6 billion.

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According to sources close to the matter, the supermarket giant is considering offloading its European division to focus its profits on its UK business.

Tesco recently posted a comparable sales growth of 1.8 per cent to £13.4 billion in the three months to the end of May, which is a decrease from 4.2 per cent in the previous quarter in its most recent results.

The retailer is currently focusing on mitigating the financial impact of the ongoing conflict in the Middle East.

Chief executive Ken Murphy said at the time: “I am pleased with our progress in the first quarter, with customer satisfaction up strongly and continued sales growth building on the exceptional performance we delivered last year.

“With the conflict in the Middle East creating ongoing uncertainty for many households, we remain focused on giving customers the very best combination of price, quality and service.”

Tesco has been contacted for a comment.