Tesco says grocery inflation has lessened as it plans £500m efficiency savings
Tesco has said inflationary pressures in the UK grocery sector have “lessened substantially” as it announced plans to make £500m in efficiency savings in the year ahead.
As expected, the country’s biggest supermarket chain revealed pre-tax profits had soared 159% to almost £2.3bn from the previous year when it incurred high impairment charges on stores, while sales rose 7.4% to almost £61.5bn.
The group expects to make at least the same level of profits in the year ahead as it cuts costs with new techniques, including a robot-led distribution centre for fresh produce and fitting 100 stores with solar panels over the next three years.
Ken Murphy, the chief executive of Tesco, said he was “encouraged by signs of improving consumer sentiment” but “conscious that things are still difficult for many customers”.
He said: “Inflationary pressures have lessened substantially, however we are conscious that things are still difficult for many customers, so we have worked hard to reduce prices.”
The group, which already controlled more than a quarter of the UK grocery market, has increased market share in the past year, partly because of the success of its special discount scheme for loyalty card holders.
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Tesco said there were now 8,000 products with Clubcard Prices discounts each week, with the number of households holding one of its loyalty cards up 6.2% to 22m and 82% of sales using one.