Tesco reported a 14 per cent rise in pre tax profits to £1.2 billion sterling in the year to February 23rd, in line with analysts' forecasts, driven by rising non-food sales and growth overseas.
Tesco said it hopes international sales will continue to drive growth amid an expected slowdown in the British food industry this year.
Tesco said today capital expenditure would amount to £2 billion this year as it creates 21,000 jobs worldwide on top of the 20,000 new global positions it added last year.
Tesco said its international profits, encompassing countries including Ireland, Thailand, Korea, Hungary and the Czech Republic, spiked 61 per cent to £119 million and sales climbed 37 per cent to £4 billion.
Tesco's shares have been rangebound between 230p-280p in the last 12 months. The stock is currently trading at 248p, down four per cent on this time last year despite an exceptionally strong year for the food retail industry in Britain.