Tesco is set to defy the credit crunch by announcing that its sales have exceeded the £1 billion a week mark – an unprecedented milestone for a British retailer – according to city analysts.
The supermarket giant is expected to announce to shareholders on Tuesday that turnover soared from just under £52 billion to a record £54 billion last year, while profits have reached an all-time high of £3 billion.
The milestone comes just 30 years after Tesco’s revenues topped £1 billion a year for the first time. Since then the company has replaced Sainsburys as Britain’s biggest retailer and has cemented itself as the world’s third largest, behind US-based Wal-Mart and French retailer Carrefour .
Tesco’s UK portfolio currently consists of 2,115 stores and a workforce of more than 280,000. The chain has also established itself in Eastern Europe, California, and the Far East where it operates over 700 stores.
However, next week’s financial results will revive claims from its opponents of unfair market domination and that its continuing growth signals the end for thousands of small local shops and traders throughout the UK.
Helen Rimmer, spokeswoman for the Tescopoly campaign website, said: “Tesco’s growth over the past 30 years has come at the expense of vibrant town centres, farmers and the environment .
“For three decades Tesco have bulldozed through weak planning laws, dictated terms and conditions to farmers, and been allowed to expand to the extent they now control over 30 per cent of the grocery market.”
“The Government must stop the Tesco takeover with strong planning laws to protect town centres and new rules to ensure a fair deal for farmers .”
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