…Tesco posts 10% profit rise

Tesco has posted a steady 10% rise in pre-tax profits, netting almost £1.5bn for the 26 weeks to August 23. The uplift has come despite increasing pressures on the retail sector.

The supermarket giant has reported that core UK sales increased by 9.7% and trading profit rose 8.6% on the same period last year. UK non-food sales were also up 4% and Tesco.com sales rose by 20.5%.

Terry Leahy, Tesco’s chief executive, says: “Tesco is at its best in tough markets – responding to the changing needs of customers – and that’s why we have been able to make good progress this year, despite facing into powerful economic headwinds and carrying planned start-up losses in the US.”

While Tesco continues to dominate the UK supermarket sector, the credit crunch and tighter household budgets have meant cheaper alternatives such as Lidl, Aldi and Asda have been seeing an increase in their sales.

Tesco has responded by releasing a new range of some 400 low-cost products. The retailer serves more than 20 million customers every week.