Britain's biggest retailer, supermarket giant Tesco has reported a 42 per cent jump in net profit in its first half on soaring online demand for food during the coronavirus outbreak, AFP reported.

Profit after tax jumped to 460 million pounds ($585 million) in the six months to the end of August, compared with 324 million a year earlier, Tesco said in a statement.

Sales were fuelled by Britons increasingly switching from Tesco's largest stores to having their groceries delivered.

This came despite exceptional costs of 533 million in response to the pandemic, notably the creation of 16,000 jobs to meet the growing online demand.