Tesco posts 14% profit growth in H1 2009

Tesco has reported solid results for the first half of the financial year, including a 14 per cent growth in profits.

In the 26 weeks ended August 29th, the Group’s trading profits rose to 1,551 million, or 1,419 million before tax.

The supermarket also recorded 30.4 billion worth of sales, an improvement of 8.3 percent when compared to the same period in 2008. Group revenue came in at 27.8 billion, a year-on-year increase of 9.3 per cent.

Non-food saw a 4.9 per cent increase in like-for-like sales during the six month period, with a number of hardlines categories, such as electricals, recording double-digit like-for-like growth.

Our UK business is delivering solid growth and improving volumes,” said chief executive Terry Leahy. This progress across the Group, combined with our strong financial position funding continued investment in new space and new businesses, means we’re well-placed for the global recovery.

Our non-food business has been very resilient through the downturn and we are confident it will emerge from the recession even stronger as some competitors have felt the strain and more customers will have been encouraged to try our non-food range in the search for great value.”

He also attributed the promising results to strong performances in international markets and from last year’s acquisitions, such as Homever in Korea and Tesco Bank.