Tesco says growth ‘on track’ as sales rise again
Tesco says its growth plans are on track after it reported a 10th consecutive quarter of rising sales.
UK like-for-like sales, which strip out the impact of new stores, rose 2.1% in the 13 weeks to 26 May.
The supermarket giant said sales had recovered after being affected by bad weather conditions in March.
Tesco chief executive Dave Lewis said he was “delighted with initial progress on Booker”, the food wholesaler that Tesco bought at the end of last year.
Like-for-like sales at the wholesaler – which owns the Premier, Budgens and Londis store brands – rose 14.3% in its first quarter under Tesco’s ownership.
Mr Lewis said he was “pleased with the momentum in the business”.
Tesco’s first quarter sales were a slight slowdown from the 2.3% rise in the fourth quarter, but the group said they were held back by March’s heavy snow which put people off going shopping.
Mr Lewis said the supermarket was continuing to focus on re-launching its own brand range and was now more than a quarter of the way through this.
The own-brand re-launch is part of Tesco’s plan to take on discounters Lidl and Aldi, which continue to win market share from the bigger supermarkets.
Despite the competition, Tesco is still by far the UK’s biggest supermarket with a 27.7% market share, according to the latest figures.
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