Britain’s favourite supermarket, Tesco has reported Interim Results 2017/18 showing Group sales rose by 3.3% to £25.2bn – the seventh consecutive quarter of growth.
UK like-for-like sales saw an uplift of 2.2%, with transactions up by 0.4%, and volumes up 0.3%.
There was strong fresh food volume growth in the UK of 1.5%, driven by ongoing improvements in the supermarket chain's offer.
Group operating profit before exceptional items was up 27.3% to £759m; UK & ROI up 21.1% to £471m. Group operating margin was up to 2.7% from 2.2% last year; on track for 3.5-4.0% ambition by 2019/20.
Dave Lewis, Chief Executive, (pictured) said, “We are continuing to make strong progress. Sales are up, profits are up, cash generation continues to strengthen and net debt levels are less than half what they were when we started our turnaround three years ago.
'All of this is possible because of the focus we have placed on serving shoppers a little better every day. Our offer is more competitive and more customers are shopping at Tesco.
'Today’s announcement that we are resuming our dividend reflects our confidence that we can build on our strong performance to date and in doing so, create long-term, sustainable value for all of our stakeholders.”