Tesco profits leap to £1.2bn — and shoppers are the ones out of pocket

Whatever you pick from the supermarket’s latest numbers, this is a business doing very well at a time when many shoppers are struggling, says James Moore. Is it time for the regulator to step in?

With a 27 per cent market share and growing, is the chain simply too big? (Getty Images)

Once upon a time, Tesco was the undisputed master of all it surveyed, gobbling up market share until it became known as the “supermarket that ate Britain”.

Then Sir Terry Leahy stepped down as chief executive (at just the right time) and the edifice crumbled as his successor Philip Clarke made the mother and father of all messes.

Looking at the latest set of results, it is clear that the supermarket is ready to chow down again, even after competition from the likes of Aldi and Lidl, where the low price but limited-choice model benefited from the cost of living crisis. Sir Terry never had to grapple with such enemies. But today’s Tesco, led by Ken Murphy, has been gaining market share and making money.