Tesco stocks up despite falling profits

The share price of UK supermarket giant Tesco is up this morning (April 16th), despite a fall in profits being announced by the company in its latest financial results.

Tesco revealed that group profits have slipped by six per cent, which makes it two years on the bounce the firm has announced a lower profit compared to its previous data.

It was also announced by Tesco that like-for-like sales were down by 1.4 per cent, but stocks in the company still rose as the results were better than many analysts had predicted. Some had estimated the drop in profits to be around ten per cent, but Tesco said it still made £3.3 billion for the 12-month period.

Phillip Clarke, chief executive at the company, noted that there was good news for some parts of the business, as sales at Tesco Express stores grew 1.1 per cent and online grocery sales were up by 11 per cent compared to the previous year.

"We are transforming Tesco through a relentless focus on the most compelling offer for our customers," he said in a statement.

"Our results today reflect the challenges we face in a trading environment which is changing more rapidly than ever before. We are determined to lead the industry in this period of change."

European sales

Tesco also revealed the ongoing eurozone crisis has had a major impact on the health of its business on the continent. It said it has been hit by a £734 million loss of value in its European business in the last 12 months.

Sales at UK stores that have been open for over a year were down by three per cent as the results show Tesco's dominance of the supermarket sector has slipped in the last year.

But despite this, the share price of the company rose strongly in the early stages of trading on the London Stock Exchange, growing by more than 3.5 per cent by 08:31 BST and continuing to rise steadily as the session continued.

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