EL SEGUNDO, Calif. — Tesco PLC’s Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Markets chain has laid off about 50 people from its headquarters here. The action should not be seen as a bad omen for the chain’s future, according to Tesco officials.

Tesco PLC’s Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Markets chain has laid off about 50 people from its headquarters here. The action should not be seen as a bad omen for the chain’s future, according to Tesco officials.

"In April we said we are taking a more cautious approach to expanding Fresh & Easy, focusing on getting existing stores to profitability," the company said in a statement. "Our central cost base should reflect that more cautious approach. With great regret, this means that we have to make redundancies at Fresh & Easy headquarters in California. This is not with a view to a sale or closure of the business. We remain committed to reach profitability, and these changes are about helping to achieve that."

Many of the people who were laid off reportedly worked in Fresh & Easy’s real estate division, which has less to do now that the chain’s further expansion has been put on hold. Fresh & Easy opened its first stores in the Los Angeles area in November 2007; it now operates about 200 small-format grocery stores in California, Arizona and Nevada. The chain currently employs just over 5,000 people.

Tesco chief executive officer Philip Clark said recently that he expects Fresh & Easy to break even in its 2013/2014 fiscal year.