Tuesday January 13, 09:16 AM
Tesco to create 10,000 new jobs as sales jump
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LONDON (AFP) - Supermarket chain Tesco (LSE: TSCO.L - news) said on Tuesday that sales grew 11.6 percent in the run-up to Christmas despite "challenging" conditions and plans to create 10,000 new jobs owing to expansion abroad and modest growth in its home market.
"The Tesco Group has delivered a strong performance and record sales over the Christmas and New Year period," Britain's biggest retailer said in a trading update on the crucial festive period.
"Group sales increased by 11.6 pecent during the seven weeks to 10 January 2009, driven by continued rapid international expansion and steady growth in the UK.
"This growth is against the background of challenging trading conditions in all of our markets caused by the global economic slowdown."
However, it also emerged Tuesday that retailers suffered their worst December for 14 years as consumers tightened their belts in the face of a looming recession, according to a survey from the British Retail Consortium.
But Tesco said its British sales excluding petrol, on a like-for-like basis that strips out the effect of new floor space, rose 2.5 percent in the seven weeks to January 10, from the same period of the previous fiscal year.
International sales soared by 32.7 percent, with Europe up 24 percent and Asia gaining 43 percent.
In the United States, where Tesco launched a chain of small food stores in 2007 under the "Fresh & Easy" banner, sales growth was also strong across its 28 branches.
Tesco is the world's third-biggest retailer. US giant Wal-Mart is the largest, followed by French group Carrefour (Paris: FR0000120172 - news) .
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