As predicted yesterday on freshinfo, Tesco this morning unveiled a 13 per cent rise in full-year underlying profits to £2.55 billion.
Sales for the whole group rose 10.9 per cent to £46.6bn - which equates to just over £88,000 a minute, while its 1,500 UK stores sold goods to the value of £35.6bn, which is around £1 in every £8 spent on the High Street.
The 8.2 million square feet of new international store space saw international sales boosted by 18 per cent. But the majority of Tesco’s profits still come from its UK network.
Between 10,000 and 12,000 of an estimated 25,000 new jobs created by the chain in the next 12 months will be in this country.
Tesco's results also gave an update on its plans to realise the value of its property portfolio. It initially said the programme would allow it to return at least £1.5bn to shareholders through share buybacks, but now expects to return at least £3bn.
The company currently holds a 31.2 per cent share of the UK grocery market, according to TNS.
