Tesco has announced operating profits of £354m for the six months to the end of August, that’s 55% lower than the equivalent operating profits last year of £780m.

Tesco had additional exceptional losses last year of over £600m arising from its profit misreporting scandal, and restructuring charges.

Profits are lower in the current year principally due to Tesco’s offloading of some significant assets such as the recently announced sale of its Korean business for £4bn.

But the trading environment remains very competitive – like for like sales in the UK and Republic of Ireland slipped by 1.3% during the period though the company has grown its market share here for the first time since 2013.

Tesco reports that in Ireland it has made "a significant investment to ensure customers receive the most competitive offer possible when shopping with Tesco."

Kantar Worldpanel's most recent ranking of Irish supermarkets reported that Tesco Ireland had recorded it's first quarterly increase in sales in over two years during the third quarter of 2015.

It fought off stiff competition from Supervalu during September to remain Ireland's most popular supermarket.