Tesco Group’s like-for-like sales were up 2.1 per cent for the Christmas period, the retailer said in its trading statement.
UK like-for-like sales growth was 1.3 per cent for the period, which covers the six weeks to 9th January, while international like-for-like sales grew by 4.1 per cent.
However, UK and Ireland like for like sales for the previous 13 weeks were down. As a result for the full 19 weeks covered by the trading statement like-for-like sales were down 0.5 per cent in the UK and Ireland. Total group like for like sales were up 0.4 per cent.
Tesco said its third quarter performance in the UK reflected an impact from not repeating three ‘£5 off £40’ national coupon campaigns from the prior year.
“Our Christmas performance was strong, benefiting from lower prices on an outstanding range of products,” said David Lewis, chief executive of Tesco. “Our customer service improved materially and our colleagues went the extra mile. Put simply, we put customers at the heart of everything we did and they responded by buying more of what they needed at Tesco.”
