Tesco Ireland sees strong growth

Tesco Ireland reported a 9.5 per cent  rise in sales to €1.9 billion for the year to the end of February.

Tesco Ireland reported a 9.5 per cent  rise in sales to €1.9 billion for the year to the end of February.

The company employs more than 11,000 people. It opened five new stores last year, bringing the number to 83 in the Republic and plans to opening seven new or replacement stores this year.

Online shopping sales in the Republic grew by 50 per cent which means there are now 110,000 online shopping customers.

The company in Britain this morning met analysts' forecasts with an annual underlying pre-tax profit of £1.708 billion sterling.

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The grocer's profits compared with forecasts of £1.672 billion to £1.74 billion and a consensus of £1.71 billion for the 53 week period ended February 28th.

Turnover grew 18.7 per cent, led by international sales up 29 per cent.

Tesco, which has a seemingly unassailable lead in the grocery sector, raised £1.4 billion earlier this year, which gave it the financial firepower to make price cuts and acquisitions.

The firm is now targeting non-food areas such as music and clothing. It has been boosting sales at home by expanding its non-food business and smaller convenience stores. Overseas it has seen even faster growth in areas such as Asia and Central Europe.

Tesco takes one pound in every eight spent in Britain's shops. It has a 27 per cent share of the grocery market compared with 16 per cent for Wal-Mart's Asda, its nearest rival.

"The numbers are pretty good and were in line with people's expectations," said Jaime Vazquez, an analyst at JP Morgan. "In our view the only disappointment is the international side, where sales and earnings in Asia fell a little short of our forecasts."