Tesco Ireland increased its share of the Irish grocery market to almost a quarter in the year to the end of February, the British supermarket giant said on Thursday, with sales in the Republic reaching almost €3.7 billion.
In its preliminary full-year results for the 2025/2026 financial year, Tesco said its Irish sales increased 4.6 per cent on a like-for-like basis to £3.2 billion (€3.7 billion) and 6.6 per cent at constant rates.
Food sales in the Republic increased by 5.1 per cent, the group said, with sales of its Tesco Finest range up 11.8 per cent year-on-year.
Although no specific profit figures for the Irish arm are provided in the report, operating profits at the UK and Ireland unit of Britain’s largest supermarket chain increased 0.7 per cent to £2.7 billion on total revenues of £53.1 billion.
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Tesco’s market share here also increased by 0.3 percentage points to 24.2 per cent, which it said was the fourth consecutive year of market share growth. The chain opened nine new stores in the Republic last year.
Tesco Ireland and Northern Ireland chief executive Geoff Byrne said the results were “strong” in a competitive market.
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“Looking ahead, we expect the market to remain competitive, and as global events continue to create uncertainty and put pressure on household budgets, customers will expect even more from us,” he said.
Meanwhile, the group warned that the uncertainty from the war in the Middle East was weighing on its outlook for the year.
The FTSE 100 group said in a statement alongside the preliminary annual results that its outlook was highly dependent on how long the conflict lasted and “in particular, the potential implications for UK households and the economy more broadly”.
It forecast adjusted operating profit for the year to February 2027 would rise to between £3 billion and £3.3 billion, “a wider range of guidance than we were previously planning”. Its shares rose 3 per cent in trading on Thursday morning.
Full-year profits for the year to the end of February were flat in the face of rising employment costs and tough competition. Adjusted operating profit rose 0.8 per cent to £3.1 billion, at the top end of its revised estimates, following a strong Christmas performance.
[ Tesco buys €900m of Irish products for export to overseas storesOpens in new window ]
Revenue for the year rose 4.6 per cent to £66.6 billion. Tesco’s share price has surged 37 per cent in the past 12 months, for a market capitalisation of £30 billion.
Over the past year Tesco, which is led by Irishman Ken Murphy, had a 28 per cent share of the UK grocery market, according to data from Worldpanel, its highest figure in more than a decade.
The company is also planning to make a further £500 million in cost savings in the coming year to give it the firepower to increase promotional offers. – Additional reporting: The Financial Times
