Tesco shares climb 4% as operating profits in UK and the Republic top €3.1bn

Sales in the Republic gain almost 7% to €3.39bn during the worst of the cost-of-living crisis, the annual results show

Tesco said its food sales in the Republic grew by over 9%, helped by bakery and "innovations in coffee, hot food and food-on-the-go offers".

Tesco shares climbed 4% after the British supermarket group posted a surge in annual operating profit to £2.67bn (€3.1bn) from its operations in the UK and the Republic of Ireland, as sales prospered despite the worst cost-of-living crisis in decades. 

Sales rose in the UK to £44.3bn (€51.76bn), an increase of 7.7% in the financial year that runs to late February, while sales in the Republic gained almost 7% to £2.9bn (€3.39bn), the annual results show.