Tesco has delivered its “biggest ever” Christmas as Britain’s biggest retailer lowered festive prices and won shoppers from rivals.
Like-for-like sales over the six weeks to 4 January increased 3.8%, with food sales rising by 4.7%.
Tesco said the jump was primarily driven by volume growth across the period, with a particularly strong contribution from fresh food, while non-food sales were also up 4%, with growth registered in both home and clothing.
Its premium Finest products proved popular as consumers splurged for Christmas, with sales for the own label range up 15.5%.
Tesco’s Christmas gains
Tesco also claimed it had cemented its position as the country’s cheapest full-line grocer, offering Christmas dinner at a 12% lower price year on year.
It led to the group winning share from all rivals, including the discounters and premium retailers.
CEO Ken Murphy said he was “very proud” of the Tesco team and the Christmas performance.
“We invested to bring the best value, quality and service to everyone, no matter how or where they shopped with us,” he added. “As a result, we delivered our biggest ever Christmas, with continued market share growth and switching gains.
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“Our strong performance reflects the investments we have made, positioning Tesco as the UK’s cheapest full-line grocer for over two years, improving quality across all our ranges, with more than half of this year’s Christmas range new or improved, and providing the best experience for our customers in-store and online, supported by an extra 28,000 colleagues over the Christmas period.”
Like-for-like growth over the third quarter was slower than during the Christmas period, with sales up 2.8% in the 13 weeks to 23 November. It meant sales increased 3.1% year on year over the 19 weeks.
Booker, however, contributed a negative performance, with sales down 2.6% in Q3 and by 1.3% over the 19 weeks. The wholesaler improved over Christmas, registering growth of 1.4%.
The division’s strength in core catering and retail was offset by declines in tobacco and weakness in parts of the fast-food market serviced by Best Food Logistics.
Looking ahead to the full-year, Tesco continues to expect to report adjusted group operating profits of £2.9bn.
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