Britain’s biggest retailer Tesco on Wednesday announced a six-fold surge in annual net profits after the supermarket giant exited Asian markets and was allowed to stay open during coronavirus lockdowns.

Profit after tax soared to £6.14 billion (€7.31bn) in the 12 months to the end of February from £971 million in 2019/20.

“While the pandemic is not yet over, we’re well-placed to build on the momentum in our business,” noted chief executive Ken Murphy. “We have doubled the size of our online business and... we’re building a digital customer platform,” he added in the results statement.

We have doubled the size of our online business and... we’re building a digital customer platform- Tesco chief executive Ken Murphy

As the pandemic began to take hold in March 2020, Tesco struck a deal to sell its businesses in Thailand and Malaysia to Thai conglomerate CP Group for £8.0 billion.

The transactions, agreed under previous CEO Dave Lewis, were aimed at slashing debt and streamlining the group, enabling a stronger focus on UK, Irish and central European activities.

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