Tesco full-year profits climb as turnaround bears fruit

The supermarket titan posted a 28.8% jump in pre-tax profit year on year to £1.7bn.

The retailer’s profit uplift was spurred by an 11.5% rise in group sales to £56.9bn as like-for-like sales across the UK and Republic of Ireland increased 2.9%.

Tesco and Booker’s like-for-like sales were up 1.7% and 11.1% respectively across the UK and Republic of Ireland during the period.

The grocery chain’s group operating margin rose 62 basis points year on year to 3.45% and stood at 3.96% in the second half of the financial year, which chief executive Dave Lewis said puts the business “comfortably in the aspirational range we set four years ago”.

The retailer relaunched 10,000 own-brand products during the year including eight new Exclusively at Tesco products.

Tesco delivered £532m in cost savings during the financial period and has met £1.4bn of its overall £1.5bn savings target to date.

Turnaround goals

Lewis said: “After four years we have met or are about to meet the vast majority of our turnaround goals. I’m very confident that we will complete the journey in 2019/20.

“I’m delighted with the broad-based improvement across the business. We have restored our competitiveness for customers – including through the introduction of Exclusively at Tesco – and rebuilt a sustainable base of profitability.

“I’m pleased that we are able to accelerate the recovery in the dividend as a result of our continued capital discipline and strong improvement in cash profitability.”