Tesco posts strong profit rise

19th Apr 2011 07:10

Tesco's new chief executive Philip Clarke delivered profits and sales that were ahead of expectations as he unveiled the supermarket giant's results for the year to 26 February.Pre-tax profits climbed by 11.3% from the same period a year ago to £3.53bn, on sales that climbed by 8.1% to £67.57bn. A final dividend of 10.09p is proposed, which takes the full-year dividend to 14.46p, a 10.8% rise on the previous year.Sam Hart, of broker Charles Stanley, thought the company wouldmake a profit before tax of £3.5bn, up from £3.18bn the year before, on sales of £62.5bn, up from £56.9bn.UK sales were up by 5.5% to £44.57bn, "a solid performance during a period of unusually subdued industry growth." However, Tesco said it did not meet its planned growth for the year, which was "only partly attributable to the deterioration in the consumer environment during the second half."Internationally, Asian sales were up by 9.7% at constant exchange rates to £11.02bn, Europe sales grew 7.4% to £10.56bn and sales in the US were up by 38.1%, though its California-focused Fresh & Easy chain saw losses increase."A generally improving global economic environment provides a helpful background for Tesco in most of our markets in Asia and Europe as well as in the United States," said the company. "In some specific countries - not least of course the UK - as consumers deal with higher taxes, public sector contraction and rising fuel costs, demand growth remains subdued."---RG