Tesco: Asia offsets flat UK

Tesco announced another record annual profit this week. Performance in Britain described as 'below par' but profits in Asia jumped 30%.

Tesco, the world's third-largest retailer, announced another record annual profit this week. Profits before tax and one-off items grew by 12.3% to £3.8bn £10m a day in the year to the end of February.

But its performance in Britain, which accounts for around two-thirds of profits, was described as "below par" by chief executive Phil Clarke. Like-for-like sales, excluding VAT and petrol, slid 0.7% in the final quarter of the year. Meanwhile, losses in the US accelerated to £186m from £165m. Profits in Asia jumped by 30% to £570m, outstripping the total in Europe (ex-UK) for the first time.

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