Tesco have declared an operating profit of £2.83bn for the year until February, an increase of nearly 13% from the previous year.

Simultaneously, total revenues, VAT excluded, expanded by 4.4% to £68.2bn during the same period.

Tesco revealed that retail like-for-like sales rose by 6.8% for the year. Due to a recovery in the number of purchases made within UK and Ireland stores in the latter half of the year, as a relaxation in price inflation encouraging more consumers to purchase more. This counterbalanced a 17.2% drop in fuel sales due to cheaper prices of petrol and diesel.

Tesco also confirmed to stakeholders that its growth was also thanks to investments aimed at cutting prices on approximately 4,000 products throughout the year.

CEO Ken Murphy commented: “Customers are choosing to shop more at Tesco, which is reflected in growing market share as they respond to the improvements we’ve made to the value and quality of our products.

“Inflationary pressures have lessened substantially; however, we are conscious that things are still difficult for many customers, so we have worked hard to reduce prices and have now been the cheapest full-line grocer for well over a year.”

Head of markets at Interactive Investor, Richard Hunter added: “It’s appetite for lowering prices for customers is enabled by its sheer scale and strength, falling food inflation, and a significant cost reduction.

“In turn, this creates something of a virtuous circle, with more customers attracted by the likes of the group’s Aldi Price Match, Low Everyday Prices and Clubcard Prices.”

Hunter added: “At the same time, it has also honed its upper end offering, with its Finest range continuing to take market share from its rivals. Finest sales exceeded £2bn for the period, an increase of 15.7%, with volumes up 9% and the range now in front of 23 mil customers.

“Retail like-for-like sales grew by 6.8%, including an increase of 7.7% in the UK, and the value and volume of market share increased once more to stand at 27.6% (and 34% for the online business), putting clear light between its size and that of its nearest competitors.”

He concluded: “The share price has seen an increase of 9% over the last year, as compared to a gain of 1.9% for the wider FTSE100 and the new buyback programme should additionally be price supportive as it rolls out.”