Tesco on target for £2bn annual profits

Tesco offered its rivals no respite today after buoyant Christmas sales kept the supermarket giant on course for annual profits of more than £2bn (€2.9bn).

Unveiling record figures for the seven weeks to January 8, the UK’s biggest retailer said total UK sales were up by 12.1% with the like-for-like figure ahead by 7.6% when excluding petrol forecourt sales.