Oh, to have a bad year like Tesco. It must be awful for its board to read the headlines of a downturn that accompany results showing a paltry six-month profit of £1.29bn.

The market leader’s growth may have slowed, slightly, but as its competitors are increasing their profits every year too, so we should probably all rejoice in the knowledge that the retail sector is showing signs of balancing its power base while retaining its financial strength.

Tesco is an incredible beast, but it has been said for some time that it has greater prey to kill than its UK supermarket rivals. Its leadership position in this market is secure for many years to come, barring miracles, and the dollar signs are filling its sights this year.

How Tesco performs on its entrance into the US will be extremely interesting. It is very unlikely to fail, but the speed with which it finds success will be crucial to its global reputation for greatness. It has a core of UK supply-chain brains behind its operation, which would seem to me to be a very sensible approach. The US market is certainly awaiting developments with interest.

Since Tesco gained its forward momentum in the mid-1990s, it has seldom looked back, and only a fool would predict that it is now about to lose focus on its UK operation. If Tesco fails to gain market share, it will be because Tesco does not want or need to. However many dollars roll in though, it will keep piling on the pounds.