LONDON: Tesco beat guidance with a 28.4 percent rise in full-year profit on Wednesday, underlining the recovery of Britain’s biggest retailer under Chief Executive Dave Lewis. The supermarket group, which last month completed the £4 billion purchase of wholesaler Booker, made an operating profit before exceptional items of £1.644 billion in the year to Feb. 24, 2018. That compared to Tesco’s guidance of “at least” £1.575 billion and £1.28 billion made in 2016-17. It said it was firmly on track to deliver its medium-term targets which include cutting costs further and improving operating margins to between 3.5 percent and 4.0 percent by 2019/20. It had a margin of 2.9 percent in 2017/18. “We are generating significant levels of cash and net debt is down by almost 6 billion pounds over the last three years,” Lewis said. “All of this puts us firmly on track to deliver our medium-term ambitions and create long-term value for every stakeholder in Tesco.” Lewis joined Tesco in September 2014, tasked with turning around the group which had been hit by a fall in sales and profits due to changing shopping habits, the rise of German discounters Aldi and Lidl and a 2014 accounting scandal. Lewis first stabilized Tesco, then got it growing again with a focus on more competitive prices, new and streamlined product ranges, better customer service and much improved supplier relationships. It said on Wednesday that like-for-like sales in its home market were up 2.2 percent as it maintained a consistent performance throughout the year, helping it to be the strongest performer of the “big four” supermarkets alongside Morrisons.