Tesco staff are set to receive a pay out following the strong performance of its Save as You Earn (SAYE) colleague share schemes.
More than 20,000 of the grocery giant’s workers, who mainly comprise of shopfloor staff working across stores and distribution centres, will share in a windfall profit of over £30m now that the schemes have matured.
The bumper pay out has been created by the strong growth of the retailer’s share price, which hit £3.06 earlier this week.
Staff who joined the schemes are able to purchase shares at a discounted price of £1.88 or £1.98 each, and keep them for the longer term or sell them to make a profit on each share.
Workers who invested the maximum £500 per month in the schemes stand to receive a profit of nearly £10,000 from the three-year scheme, and almost £20,000 from the five-year scheme, if they choose to sell the shares.
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A total of 52,000 staff members participate in a Tesco SAYE scheme, with different schemes maturing each year. The supermarket’s workers have invested £63.5m in the schemes since 2019.
Tesco chief people officer Emma Taylor said: “It’s great news that more than 20,000 colleagues will benefit this year from our share schemes. This is just one of the many benefits available to our colleagues, and the strong performance of the schemes this year is a reflection of their hard work and the brilliant job that they do serving our customers every day.
“Colleagues tell us they like this way of saving every month – and when Tesco performs well, they share in a multi-million pound payout or can keep shares bought at a discounted rate. This year the schemes’ success is rewarding our colleagues with thousands of pounds in profit, helping to boost their savings for everything from holidays to house renovations.”
It comes as Tesco revealed it had strengthened its market share and maintained its profit guidance for the year as it reported a 4.6% rise in underlying UK sales for the first quarter last month.
As a result, the UK’s biggest grocer has kept its forecast for retail adjusted operating profit of at least £2.8bn for 2024/25, up from £2.76bn in 2023/24.
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