Tesco results

  The results announced this morning seem better than expected.

• Group sales up 7.4% to £72.0bn*, up 5.9% exc. petrol
• Statutory profit before tax up 5.3% to £3.8bn; Underlying profit before tax up 1.6% to £3.9bn
• Group trading profit up 1.3% to £3.8bn – UK down (1.0)% to £2.5bn; International up 17.7% to £1.1bn
• Underlying diluted EPS growth of 2.1%**; dividend per share growth of 2.1%
• Results in line with latest market consensus***
• Increase in return on capital employed to 13.3%; 2014/15 14.6% target maintained
• Financial strategy to put increased focus on delivering sustainable business growth, improving returns and higher level of cash generation
• Reducing Group capital expenditure from £3.8bn in 2011/12 to £3.3bn in 2012/13