Though brutal weather in June and July scared off shoppers, Sir Terry Leahy, Tesco’s chief executive, was resolutely upbeat about the future as the retailer reported underlying first-half trading profits of £1.2bn, a
10 per cent rise year on year. Is his unusually jolly tone justified?

Like-for-like sales in the UK, excluding fuel, grew 3.5 per cent, one of the lowest figures in years. Tesco executives took pains to blame the results on the lousy summer weather, including a comparison of hours of sunshine and same-store sales in their analyst presentation. There is evidence to support this claim. Rival Morrisons’ same-store summer sales were also unimpressive, up just 2.7 per cent year on year, and Tesco’s like-for-like sales improved in August along with the weather. Non-food sales, though small, grew faster.