UK retailer Tesco posts sales growth of 8.9% in H1 FY24

Delving deeper into these figures, the retail sector contributed significantly with £1,417 million, up 13.5 per cent from the previous year's £1,248 million.

On the earnings front, the adjusted diluted EPS experienced a substantial surge of 16.8 per cent year-on-year (YoY) to 12.26p in H1 FY24. The operating profit skyrocketed by 105.5 per cent to £1,482 million and the profit before tax soared by a staggering 207.3 per cent to £1,217 million. The diluted EPS grew by 292.4 per cent, hitting 12.83p, the company said in a press release.

Tesco reported strong sales performances throughout the group. The retail like-for-like (LFL) sales rose by 7.8 per cent, with the impact of inflation reducing throughout the half-year. Specifically, the UK and Republic of Ireland (ROI) LFL sales grew by 8.4 per cent, broken down as the UK up by 8.7 per cent, ROI by 6.9 per cent, and Booker by 7.5 per cent. Central Europe's LFL sales witnessed a modest rise of 0.9 per cent, reflecting last year's strong base coupled with market volume contraction due to sustained high inflation.

The company’s retail adjusted operating profit settled at £1,417 million, up 13.5 per cent at constant rates.

“This relentless focus on customers, combined with significant cost reductions from our Save to Invest programme, has driven our strong performance in the first half of the year. We are in a strong position to keep investing for customers, and will continue to lower prices wherever we can, doing everything in our power to make sure customers can have a fantastic, affordable Christmas by shopping at Tesco,” said Ken Murphy, chief executive.

Fibre2Fashion News Desk (DP)