Supermarket chain's interim results reveal sales and profit rise in the face of credit crunch.
Tesco plc met City expectations today with a 10.3% rise in underlying pre-tax profits to £1.45bn for the first half of its financial year.

Its interim results and management report for the 26 weeks to August 23 also revealed a 14.1% increase in group sales to £28.1bn.

Its core UK business sales climbed £9.7% to £20.1bn in the 26-week period, with a like-for-like rise of 6.7%, and 3.7% excluding petrol.

The management report said: "In the core UK business, Tesco has coped well with the effects of cautious customers and recovering competitors to deliver very solid progress in the first half."

Financial services company Credit Suisse commented on the results: "Overall, we think the H1 results should be reasonably well received. We think a robust performance in a tough consumer environment deserves a premium rating, especially in the currently turbulent financial markets."

Tesco's international division has continued to perform well with a sales growth of 26.8% to £8bn. In view of such strong results, the company also plans to expand its international space by over 25% this year.