Confirms FY guidance (Il Sole 24 Ore Radiocor) - London, 14 Jun - UK retailer Tesco said that in the first quarter ended May 25, retail sales reached 15.305 billion pounds, up a like for like 3.4%, with 4.6% growth in the UK and 4.4% in Ireland offsetting the 1.3% drop at Booker and a 0.6% increase in Central Europe.

"Following another strong quarter, we're pleased to reiterate our guidance for the full year, with sales trends in line with our expectations and the business well-positioned for the months ahead," said chief executive Ken Murphy.

Tesco Bank in the quarter posted a 59.9% jump in sales to 271 million pounds, bringing the total sales for the group to 15.576 billion pounds, up a reported 3.9% and a constant currency 4.5%.

Tesco confirmed its full year guidance, still expecting retail adjusted operating profit of at least 2.8 billion pounds and total adjusted operating profit from the retained Tesco Bank business of around 80 million, which includes a part-year amount of partnership income, based on the completion of the transaction towards the end of this calendar year. Tesco still expects to generate retail free cash flow within the guidance range of 1.4-1.8 billion pounds.

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(RADIOCOR) 14-06-24 08:18:11 (0139) 5 NNNN