Tesco’s final salary pension scheme could be closed to new members due to the financial issues that have surrounded the company recently.

The scheme is very popular with 350,000 members, 203,000 of which are current members of staff. However, due to a decrease in sales, Tesco is facing a £3.4 billion pension deficit and changes to the scheme could be announced as soon as Thursday.

Tesco did however improve its performance towards Christmas as chief executive Dave Lewis cut prices and increased staffing levels.

David McCarthy, analyst at HSBC, said Tesco is likely to report a 2.5% fall in like-for-like sales for the Christmas period, ahead of the 3% fall he has predicted in for rival Sainsbury’s.

He said: “If we are right, then this would represent a step change in momentum, which should continue throughout 2015 as management builds on early successes.”