TESCO reported a 24.4 per cent rise in profits to £822m after six months of "excellent progress".

The profits were at the top end of analysts' forecasts and came as like-for-like sales increased by 8.3 per cent.

This included strong growth in clothing and home entertainment, and left the company well placed to meet the challenges of tougher comparatives in the second half, the company said.

The UK's biggest grocery chain reported a significant growth in customer numbers and said people were spending an average of three per cent more per visit.

Very strong petrol sales contributed to growth in the 24 weeks to August 14, although profit margins were lower as Tesco did not pass on the full cost of oil price increases.

Sales of clothing were up 39 per cent and home entertainment was 26 per cent ahead, contributing to 17 per cent growth in non-food products. Tesco has recently been expanding in this area.

The company said its share of the UK non-food market rose to 6.5 per cent, compared with six per cent last year.

In the past financial year, Tesco made sales of £63,900 a minute