Tesco has reported further growth in the Irish market with plans to open five stores this year. The British supermarket group has announced a 8.9 per cent rise in pre-tax profits to £415 million sterling (£538.9 million) in the six months to August 12th last.

It does not disclose trading figures for its Irish operations and will only state that sales rose by 7 per cent in the Republic during the six-month period.

In a statement, the group said it had nearly completed a refit programme across its retail network and the 15 remaining stores would be finished by early 2001.

It is preparing to open new stores at Castlebar, Co Mayo and Maynooth, Co Westmeath in the coming months and plans a further five stores in the Republic.

In the UK, sales grew by 7.5 per cent to £8.9 billion sterling, while total international sales increased by 42 per cent to £1.2 billion.

The board has declared an interim dividend for shareholders of 1.48p up from 1.34p, an increase of 10.4 per cent.