In the six months to 26th August, pre-tax profit soared from £71 million to £562 million as UK like for like sales increased by 2.2% after rising by 2.1% in the second quarter. Meanwhile, like for like sales in central Europe rose by 0.1% in the six month period although there was a decline of 8.3% in Asia.
Tesco said the fresh food category had performed well in the UK with volume growth of 1.5% driven by strong ongoing improvements in its offer.
Tesco chief executive, Dave Lewis 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.”
