Tesco profit tops forecast

Wed, 04 Oct 2006
 
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Supermarket giant Tesco posted profits of £1.09billion yesterday after taking an incredible £17billion from UK shoppers in just six months.

Tesco’s slogan "Every little helps" banks an estimated £1 of every £7 spent on the UK high street. They benefited from strong summer sales and further expansion of non-food ranges.

The retailer made a pre-tax profit of just over £1bn in the 26 weeks to the end of August as sales increased to £22bn. International sales increased 21.3 per cent with Tesco opening 149 stores overseas in the first half.

Excluding petrol, first half like-for-like UK sales which exclude new store openings grew by 5.5 per cent.

There was also healthy growth in non-food UK sales, which rose 12.6 per cent to £3.5bn.

Clothing sales climbed 19 per cent and electronics sales surged 36 per cent. There was also encouraging news for the firm's online business. Tesco.com saw sales grow by 28.7 per cent to £554m, with profits up 43.1 per cent to £33.8m.

Tesco Telecom became the second largest British retailer of pay-as-you-go mobile phones uring the first half of the financial year, according to the group.

Chief executive Sir Terry Leahy said there was "strong progress" from all parts of the group as more customers "vote with their feet and shop with us".

"At the same time, with the recent launch of Tesco Direct and the preparations for our entry into the United States in 2007, we are investing into new markets to drive the long term growth of the business, as well as making a good start on our new Community Plan."

Mr Leahy also said the company was on track to create over 20,000 new jobs worldwide by the end of the year.

Tesco, which operates more than 2,300 stores in 13 countries, saw its shares jump 4p to 369.5p in early morning trading.

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