Tesco unlikely to profit from Covid-19 lockdown sales boom

London CNN Business — Food and supplies are flying off the shelves of UK supermarkets, but that doesn’t mean their profits are booming. Tesco, the biggest grocery chain in Britain, said Wednesday that additional costs associated with “feeding the nation” could amount to as much as £925 million this year if restrictions on work and social-distancing measures introduced to counter the coronavirus pandemic last 20 weeks. Even in the company’s best-case scenario, where lockdowns last for 12 weeks, costs are expected to rise by £650 million, driven by an increase in payroll, distribution and cleaning and maintenance expenses,said CEO Dave Lewis. Tesco sales shot up 30% during the first three weeks of March, as the company sold 76% more toilet paper, 101% more pasta and 363% more hand wash, according to an investor presentation published Wednesday. “If customer behavior were to return to normal by August, it is likely that the additional cost headwinds incurred in our retail operations would be largely offset by the benefits of food volume increases, twelve months’ business rates relief in the UK and prudent operations management,” the company said in a statement.