AGL 40.10 Decreased By ▼ -0.90 (-2.2%)
AIRLINK 127.80 Decreased By ▼ -0.34 (-0.27%)
BOP 6.60 Decreased By ▼ -0.10 (-1.49%)
CNERGY 4.60 Increased By ▲ 0.08 (1.77%)
DCL 8.58 Decreased By ▼ -0.03 (-0.35%)
DFML 41.40 Increased By ▲ 0.31 (0.75%)
DGKC 86.50 Decreased By ▼ -0.63 (-0.72%)
FCCL 32.13 Decreased By ▼ -1.26 (-3.77%)
FFBL 65.40 Decreased By ▼ -0.01 (-0.02%)
FFL 10.27 Decreased By ▼ -0.20 (-1.91%)
HUBC 110.60 Decreased By ▼ -0.03 (-0.03%)
HUMNL 14.70 Decreased By ▼ -0.60 (-3.92%)
KEL 5.15 Increased By ▲ 0.17 (3.41%)
KOSM 7.15 Decreased By ▼ -0.28 (-3.77%)
MLCF 41.69 Decreased By ▼ -1.30 (-3.02%)
NBP 60.20 Decreased By ▼ -0.22 (-0.36%)
OGDC 194.48 Decreased By ▼ -3.16 (-1.6%)
PAEL 27.95 Decreased By ▼ -1.06 (-3.65%)
PIBTL 7.98 Decreased By ▼ -0.28 (-3.39%)
PPL 150.52 Decreased By ▼ -3.64 (-2.36%)
PRL 27.08 Increased By ▲ 2.08 (8.32%)
PTC 16.08 Decreased By ▼ -0.01 (-0.06%)
SEARL 78.20 Decreased By ▼ -0.25 (-0.32%)
TELE 7.42 Increased By ▲ 0.05 (0.68%)
TOMCL 35.70 Decreased By ▼ -0.39 (-1.08%)
TPLP 7.90 Decreased By ▼ -0.17 (-2.11%)
TREET 15.87 Decreased By ▼ -0.09 (-0.56%)
TRG 52.70 Decreased By ▼ -0.66 (-1.24%)
UNITY 26.65 Decreased By ▼ -0.06 (-0.22%)
WTL 1.28 Increased By ▲ 0.01 (0.79%)
BR100 9,920 Decreased By -52.1 (-0.52%)
BR30 30,751 Decreased By -346.3 (-1.11%)
KSE100 93,225 Decreased By -423.8 (-0.45%)
KSE30 28,885 Decreased By -132.9 (-0.46%)

Supermarket group Tesco, Britain's biggest retailer, announced Thursday a rise in sales over the key Christmas period, despite high UK inflation weighing on consumer incomes. But its share price was the biggest loser on London's benchmark FTSE 100 index, shedding 3.3 percent to 204.9 pence in early deals as its update missed market expectations.
Total sales grew 1.8 percent in the 19 weeks to January 6 compared with the corresponding period a year earlier, Tesco said in a statement. They grew by the same amount in the four weeks leading up to December 25, the supermarket added.
In the UK, its main market, sales grew more than two percent over the reporting periods. "Whilst inflationary pressures remain in the UK market as a whole, we have continued to work with our supplier partners to help mitigate the impact on our customers," Tesco said. "As a result, we have passed on less inflation to date than our competitors." In Britain, wages are being eroded by Brexit-fuelled inflation according to recent data.
Since Britain voted to leave the European Union in June 2016, a drop in sterling - making imported goods more expensive - has pushed up UK annual inflation to 3.1 percent, a near six-year high. Tesco said it hopes to completes a takeover of British wholesaler Booker by early March. By purchasing Booker for £3.7 billion ($5.0 billion, 4.2 billion euros), Tesco is bidding to become the nation's top food business, slash costs and take on German-owned discount retailers.
Tesco is already the world's third-biggest supermarket chain after France's Carrefour and global leader Wal-Mart of the United States. Elsewhere on Thursday, British food-to-clothing retailer Marks and Spencer said total sales dropped 0.1 percent in its third quarter ending on December 30.
Shares were down 2.75 percent at 315.1 pence in morning London trade, making it the second biggest faller after Tesco. "In recent years the food business has been the bright light of the M&S empire, but its glow has definitely dimmed of late," noted Laith Khalaf, analyst at stockbroker Hargreaves Lansdown.
"That's probably a result of consumers tightening their belts when it comes to grocery shopping, and the strong performance of supermarket premium ranges suggests when customers are splashing out, they are increasingly doing it at (supermarkets) Sainsbury, Tesco and Morrison rather than at M&S."

Copyright Agence France-Presse, 2018

Comments

Comments are closed.