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Tesco, the UK’s largest retailer, said it delivered its “biggest ever Christmas” as shoppers came out to spend on festive products, while rival Marks and Spencer said its food sales grew by nearly 9 per cent over the period, both beating expectations.
Tesco’s like-for-like sales, excluding VAT and fuel, rose 3.1 per cent in the 19 weeks to January 4, helping Tesco achieve its highest market share since 2016. The company has a UK grocery market share of 28.5 per cent, according to industry data from Kantar.
Its upmarket Finest range performed strongly over the period, with sales rising 15.5 per cent. Tesco maintained its full-year guidance of £2.9bn in retail adjusted operating profit.
M&S, meanwhile, said like-for-like food sales rose by 9 per cent in the 13 weeks to December 28. Analysts had expected growth of just under 8 per cent.
“Sales records were broken across the business, with food recording its biggest day and clothing, home & beauty online its biggest week,” chief executive Stuart Machin said, adding that “core category sales grew strongly as more customers ticked off their whole shopping list at M&S”.
However, M&S said the outlook for the year ahead remained “uncertain” as the business faced higher costs “from well-documented increases in taxation”.
