Tesco reported a 1.9% rise in UK like-for-like sales over Christmas with a strong performance in groceries though it had a tougher time outside its food aisles.
Britain’s biggest supermarket said food sales were up 3.4% in the six-week period to 6 January but that the performance of general merchandise dragged on the overall performance – though clothing was up.
Tesco also took a significant hit from lost tobacco sales after the collapse of wholesaler Palmer & Harvey in November put an extra strain on its distribution network.
Shares opened 4% lower.
Chief executive Dave Lewis said the business had again worked with suppliers to try and limit the impact of higher costs on shoppers.
Alongside the Christmas update, Tesco reported a 2.3% rise in sales for the third quarter, just before the festive period, meaning that for the combined 19 weeks it was up by 2.1%.
The figures were published at the same time as a slew of retailers’ trading updates, with rival supermarket Waitrose seeing like-for-like sales up by 1.5% over the six weeks to 30 December.
More from Business
Waitrose, owned by the John Lewis Partnership, hailed the impact of “innovative” products such as chocolate and ginger mince pies and one-day only cut-price offers, but said the “highly competitive” market saw its profit margins come under pressure.
More follows…
Source: Sky