Tesco has enjoyed a sales boost over the Christmas period, maintaining its position as the UK’s leading grocer as shoppers continued to spend during the festive season despite ‘challenging conditions’.
The supermarket reported a 6.1% increase in like-for-like sales for the 19-week period to 7 January (to £19.7bn), with revenues increasing to 7.8% growth for the three-week Christmas trading period.
Tesco also told markets it was the only traditional supermarket to have grown its market share over Christmas (against pre-pandemic levels), claiming it took the business from its premium rivals
A strong performance was attributed to a “focus on value and quality”, as well as “market-leading availablity” – acknowledging the supply chain issues that have dogged much of the UK grocery sector over the past year.
Confirming its previous full-year profit guidance, Tesco expects to see adjusted operating profit of between £2.4bn and £2.5bn when it announces its results in March.
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Particular highlights for the grocer included increased sales across its premium own-label Finest range, which saw sales up by 8.2% as shoppers traded down from premium grocers, with the festive range expanding by 22%. Fresh food was another winner, with sales up by 8.1%.
Growth was also attributed to a strengthened value proposition, with Aldi Price Match on more than 600 key products and the continued price lock commitment. Sales volumes on Low Everyday Prices range up were also up by 7.4%.
Tesco CEO Ken Murphy said he was “really pleased” with the supermarket’s performance over the period – particularly as the strong seasonal sales have come on top of the “exceptional growth” of the last few years.
“I’m extremely proud of the way Tesco has stepped forward to help customers dealing with tough times this Christmas,” he said.
“By delivering relentlessly on the strategic priorities that we set out 18 months ago, we have made sure that customers know that they will benefit from great value and quality in every part of their basket, however they choose to shop with us.
“We go into the new calendar year with good momentum and I am confident we can continue to maintain our competitiveness and deliver a strong performance relative to the market despite the challenging conditions ahead.”
