Tesco in Asia lift as UK also bounces back
TESCO yesterday reported an 8.8 per sales cent rise in the third quarter helped by a strong performance from international stores.
The supermarket chain said it was performing in line with expectations while its market share was being boosted by the opening of more store space.
Total international sales jumped by 15.7 per cent while sales in Asia surged by 23.4 per cent in the 13 weeks to 27 November. In Europe there were improved sales in Hungary and Turkey, the retailer said. Sales at UK stores open over a year rose just 1.5 per cent, but that was up on the previous two quarters.
Analysts gave broad approval to the results which come as the retailer pushes to raise sales over Christmas.
Tesco’s Finest ranges have been one of the retailer’s successes, with double digit rises over the past two years, according to previous figures.
Sir Terry Leahy, the Tesco chief executive who stands down next March, said: “We’ve made good progress in the third quarter with growth from across the group.
“Our continued investment in the shopping trip and our new space opening programme
across our markets are giving us good sales momentum and market share gains.”
Like-for-like sales growth at Fresh & Easy, its loss-making US arm, continued in line with recent trends at 9.8 per cent during the quarter, which ended in late November.