Financial highlights
· Group like-for-like sales growth10 +6.3% including UK +7.7%
· Total retail operating profit before exceptional items and amortisation of acquired intangibles4 £1,990m, down (14.7)%
- UK & ROI operating profit £1,866m - after £(892)m UK COVID-19 costs (incl. third UK colleague bonus announced today)
and after forgoing £535m business rates relief
- represents 11.4% growth year-on-year prior to forgoing business rates relief
- Central Europe operating profit £124m, impacted by COVID-19 trading restrictions and Hungarian retail sales tax
· Bank operating loss £(175)m, in line with guidance; £(295)m goodwill impairment driven mainly by increased discount rate
· Retail free cash flow £1,187m; down year-on-year reflecting lower retail profit and last year's £277m sale of Gain Land
· Net debt down £0.3bn to £(12.0)bn; Total indebtedness down £1.9bn to £(13.0)bn (TIR: 3.6x, impacted by COVID-19)
· Diluted adjusted EPS6 11.94p down (35.8)% reflecting lower profits
· Proposed final dividend of 5.95pps to take full year dividend to 9.15pps - in line with last year and an exception to our policy, reflecting the importance the Board places on dividends paid to shareholders and its confidence in future cash flows
And later this;
Dividend:
In February, we returned £5.0 billion to shareholders by means of a special dividend, following the sale of our businesses in Thailand and Malaysia.
We propose to pay a final dividend of 5.95 pence per ordinary share, taking the full-year dividend to 9.15 pence per ordinary share, including the payment of an interim dividend of 3.20 pence per ordinary share in November 2020. The proposed full-year dividend of 9.15p reflects the importance the Board places on dividends paid to shareholders, the strength, resilience and momentum of the business in a particularly challenging year and our confidence in future cash flows. This is an exception to our policy of a pay-out ratio of 50% of earnings which would have implied a full year dividend of 5.97p.
The proposed final dividend was approved by the Board of Directors on 13 April 2021 and is subject to the approval of shareholders at this year's Annual General Meeting. The final dividend will be paid on 2 July 2021 to shareholders who are on the register of members at close of business on 21 May 2021 (the Record Date). Shareholders may elect to reinvest their dividend in the Dividend Reinvestment Plan (DRIP). The last date for receipt of DRIP elections and revocations will be 11 June 2021.
https://www.investegate.co.uk/tesco-plc ... 00093719V/
Tesco are a more recent buy for me as of a year ago, and I now consider them a mainstay in my HYP. My scheduled top up of my TSCO later this month still stands.
Ian.
nb, The above is part one of the results. Part 2 here; https://www.investegate.co.uk/tesco-plc ... 00203720V/