Tesco, the UK’s largest supermarket chain, announced a significant increase in pre-tax profits to £2.3bn and a 4.4% rise in sales to £68.2bn for the year ending 24 February. Despite these positive results, CEO Ken Murphy acknowledged that many customers were still facing challenges due to price pressures in groceries.
To provide better value for money, Tesco focused on reducing prices through initiatives like the Aldi Price Match offer and Clubcard promotions. By the end of the year, over 4,000 products were cheaper, with an average price cut of about 12%. The company’s efforts to enhance the quality and value of its products have contributed to its position as the UK’s largest supermarket chain, holding a 27.3% share of the grocery market.
Global retail analyst Charles Allen noted that Tesco had worked diligently to compete with rivals like Aldi and Lidl. While the reported results aligned with expectations, they were slightly below anticipated figures. Looking ahead, Allen mentioned that challenges lay ahead for Tesco due to increasing staff costs in conjunction with a slowdown in the rate of price inflation, which might affect sales growth.
