Tesco chief executive Dave Lewis has said that the retailer plans to close an additional 32 "unprofitable" stores in its Polish operation, on top of the 14 already closed, as it seeks to streamline its business in the country.

Describing Poland as "our only business that is currently not profitable", Lewis said that the retailer is "much more mindful of the mix of products that we are selling [in Poland], to give us a chance of becoming profitable".

Lewis was speaking to the media following the publication of Tesco's third-quarter results, which indicated group sales growth of 0.5% in the third quarter. However, the group's Central Europe division posted a 3.0% decline in sales for the period, impacted largely by Sunday closing regulations in Poland.

While the nuances of Tesco's Central Europe operations (taking in Poland, Hungary, Czech Republic and Slovakia) are different, Lewis said that Tesco is working on streamlining its operations in general across the region.