Tesco’s Irish profits rise 9% as it pays €120m dividend to British parent

Tesco’s Irish operations increased its pretax profits last year by 8.6 per cent to €211.6 million, latest accounts show.

This allowed the company to pay a €120 million dividend to its British parent, the same amount it paid out in 2024.

Its corporation tax bill amounted to just under €32 million last year, up from €28.9 million a year earlier. At the end of February, the Irish company’s accumulated profits had tipped over the €1 billion mark for the first time.

Accounts for the 53 weeks to February 28th, 2026 for Tesco Ireland Ltd show its turnover rose to €3.75 billion from €3.45 billion. There was an extra week of trading in last year’s figures.

The directors’ report states that like-for-like sales growth was 4.6 per cent. Its pretax profit margin ticked up last year, coming in at 5.7 per cent versus 5.4 per cent in 2024.

According to the directors’ report, Tesco’s online shopping business covers 92 per cent of the population of Ireland. Online sales achieved double-digit growth while nine new shops were opened in the period. It also launched its Whoosh rapid delivery service here, connected to 31 stores.

Food sales grew by 5.1 per cent on a like-for-like basis while its Finest range of products achieved growth of 11.8 per cent.

The directors said the company’s strategic priority was a focus on removing price as a reason for customers to shop elsewhere. Last year it ran an Aldi price match scheme and partnered with Aer Lingus on the airline’s Avios rewards programme.

Tesco employed 13,676 staff (up 206 on the previous year) in 2025, with its total payroll costs amounting to €503 million.

The company said it spent €18 million in increased pay and benefits for staff, increasing the average hourly rate to a market-leading €18.13.

Directors’ remuneration last year reduced to €2.6 million from €3.4 million in 2024. The number of directors who served during the year reduced from five to four.

Tesco has 194 outlets in the Republic at present, with another four due to open by the end of 2026. This means it is set to open its 200th Irish store early in the new year.

The accounts show that Tesco acquired McEvoy’s Eurospar retail supermarket in Virginia, Co Cavan last year for €3.24 million.

In August, it was announced that Andrew Yaxley would return as chief executive of Tesco Ireland, a role he first held 11 years ago, as he effectively traded positions with Geoff Byrne, who took over from Yaxley as chief executive of Booker Group.

Yaxley has worked in various roles across the group for nearly 25 years in Ireland, Britain and Czechia. He served as the head of the Irish arm of the retailer from 2015 to 2018, before moving to the UK parent as its chief commercial officer.

He subsequently served as chief executive of Booker, a wholesale group owned by Tesco since 2020.

The Tesco group is led by Irishman Ken Murphy. Latest results from the Tesco group showed sales at its Irish business rose in the first half of the year, driven by growth in its fresh and packaged food offering.

Tesco, which claims a 24.1 per cent share of the Irish grocery market, said strong like-for-like sales growth of 4.1 per cent was driven by volume increases. Total sales growth of 6.7 per cent was driven by a contribution from new space.