Tesco hails strong progress as sales rise again - Ashdale Business Consulting

Tesco hails strong progress as sales rise again

 

Tesco chief executive Dave Lewis has hailed “strong progress” at the supermarket as sales rose for the seventh quarter in a row.

Like-for-like sales, which strip out new store openings, rose 2.1% in the second quarter.

Pre-tax profit was also up, rising to £562m for the first half compared with £71m for the same period last year.

Tesco said it would pay a dividend for the first time in three years, which it said reflected “board confidence”.

The last time Tesco paid a dividend was in the 2014-15 financial year, just before the supermarket group shocked the market in admitting it had overstated profits by about £250m.

In the UK, Tesco said that fresh food in particular had performed well in the six months to 26 August, with sales up 1.5%, and was now in 70% of customers’ baskets.

Farm brands

The supermarket said that despite “challenging” market conditions, it had “worked hard with our supplier partners to minimise price increases for customers”.

It said this was helping it to become “even more competitive”.

Tesco’s fresh food and farm brands labels have been credited with helping it to compete with discount rivals Lidl and Aldi.

The results come as Tesco is awaiting the results of an in-depth competition probe into its proposed £3.7bn takeover of wholesale giant Booker.

The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) is expected to report its provisional findings next month, with a final decision due in December.

The CMA has said there are 350 areas where there is an overlap between Tesco shops and Booker-supplied independent stores.

Click here to read more (Source: BBC News)