Total sales at supermarket giant Tesco's stores in the Republic of Ireland rose by nearly 12% to €2.1 billion in the year to the end of February.
Tesco Ireland opened seven new stores during the year and plans another six this year. It said it added 860 jobs in the period and now employed 11,800 people.
Tesco Ireland said there was particularly strong growth in sales of non-food products such as clothes, household goods and CDs. Online sales grew by 20% to €16m. The Irish operation did not break down its profit figures.
Earlier, its British parent company said pre-tax profits topped £2 billion for the first time as the company posted another year of double-digit sales growth and upped the pace of international expansion.
Tesco reported 20.5% higher underlying pre-tax profits of £2,029m for the year to February 26, matching market forecasts. Group sales rose 12.4% to £37 billion, and have now almost doubled in the past five years.
In the UK, where Tesco chalks up about four-fifths of its total sales, turnover increased by just under 12% to £29.5 billion, with international operations in Asia and central and eastern Europe posting a 13% rise to £7.6 billion.
Tesco said it planned to create 25,000 jobs worldwide this year, including about 11,000 in the UK.
