Tesco raises profit forecast and announces £500m share buyback

Tesco said it would buy back £500m worth of shares and upgraded its full-year profit forecast after a stronger than expected first-half performance. The UK's largest food retailer said it now expected full-year adjusted operating profit to be between £2.5bn and £2.6bn, having previously limited itself to predicting a "Strong recovery in profitability", as the costs of coping with the coronavirus pandemic receded. Analysts have pencilled in annual adjusted operating profit of just below £2.5bn, according to estimates collated by Tesco. "We've had a strong six months; sales and profit have grown ahead of expectations, and we've outperformed the market," said chief executive Ken Murphy. Operating profit in the six months to August 28 was £1.3bn, a 29 per cent rise compared to a year earlier when the costs of hiring new staff and putting in place additional cleaning and protective screens in stores weighed heavily on the bottom line.

Read the full story

 Related companies

Make a complaint about Tesco by viewing their customer service contacts.

•