Tesco’s €2bn sales landmark

SALES in Tesco’s Irish stores shot up 12% to €2.1 billion last year, the supermarket giant said yesterday.

The company broke the €2bn sales barrier for the first time in the year to February and put the increase down to new stores and its strategy of cutting prices to win business from rivals.

The company did not disclose its Irish profits but these are estimated at more than €100m. Ireland accounts for around 4% of the company’s total sales and is one of the group’s biggest markets outside Britain.