Tesco has seen its pre-tax profits for the first half of the year increase by more than a quarter, thanks to consumers buying more food during the Covid-19 pandemic and online orders doubling.
Profits for the supermarket grew to £551 million in the 26-week period to 29th August, up 28.7% compared to last year.
Food sales for the retailer grew by 9.2%, which it attributes to its ‘Aldi Price Match’ guarantee which launched earlier this year.
Online orders for Tesco more than doubled, as it fulfilled 1.5 million delivery slots a week, up from 600,000 orders last year.
Despite the increase in food sales and online orders, Tesco did reveal a fall in operating profits, falling 15.6% to £1.037 billion. The supermarket also took a £533 million hit for its response to Covid-19, which it says was to “prioritise customer and colleague safety.”
These are the first set of results published under new chief executive, Ken Murphy, who replaced Dave Lewis last week.
Murphy said: “The first half of this year has tested our business in ways we had never imagined, and our colleagues have risen brilliantly to every challenge, acting in the best interests of our customers and local communities throughout.
“I would like to thank all our colleagues for their amazing contribution and I am delighted and proud to be part of such an incredible team.
“We are absolutely committed to continuing to invest in value for customers and safety for all in these uncertain times.
“Tesco is a great business with many strategic advantages. I’m excited by the range of opportunities we have to use those advantages to create further value for our customers and, in doing so, create value for all of our other stakeholders.”
The retailer also announced the appointment of Imran Nawaz, who will join the board of Tesco as chief financial officer in April 2021. Commenting on the appointment, John Allan, Tesco chairman, said: “After an extensive search and selection process, I am delighted to welcome Imran to our Board as CFO. He brings a wealth of skills, experience and knowledge in the food sector and will be an incredibly valuable asset to Tesco.”
