Tesco posts record '06 profits
Afp, London
British supermarket giant Tesco, the country's biggest retailer, said on Tuesday that net profits soared by a fifth in 2006 to a record 1.892 billion pounds (2.777 billion euros, 3.767 billion dollars). Net profits leapt by 20.5 percent to reach the record level, which compared with a figure of 1.570 billion pounds in 2005, the group said in its annual earnings release. Tesco, which has 3,000 supermarket branches worldwide including 1,800 in Britain, said that revenue rose by 8.1 percent to 42.641 billion pounds, driven by strong sales in Asia, eastern Europe and its home market. Pre-tax profits leapt by 13.2 percent last year to 2.545 billion pounds, which was at the top end of market expectations. Alongside the results, Tesco said it would create 25,000 new jobs around the world this year. The group will also return "at least" 3.0 billion pounds to shareholders in 2007, compared with the 1.5 billion pounds announced previously. "Tesco is investing for the future and delivering today," said Tesco chief executive Terry Leahy in comments accompanying the release.
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