Tesco is celebrating its sixth consecutive quarter of growth with total group like-for-like sales up by 1.0 per cent in the 13 weeks to 27 May.
Food like-for-like sales were up by 2.7 per cent, driving overall UK like-for-like sales growth of 2.3 per cent.
The retailer recorded particularly strong volume growth in fresh food (+1.6 per cent) with significant market outperformance.
It said it has had a positive customer response to its ‘Little Helps to Healthier Living’ campaign, and said its price position in relation to competitors has improved.
Chief executive Dave Lewis said: “In tough market conditions, we have stayed true to our commitment to helping customers – working closely with our supplier partners to keep prices low.
“Customers have responded by doing more of their shopping with us and as a result we continue to grow volumes, particularly in fresh food.
“This is a good start to the year, with our sixth consecutive quarter of positive like-for-like sales growth across the group. We are confident in our plans to create long-term, sustainable value for our key stakeholders and to deliver on the ambitions we have set out.”
Analysts have hailed Tesco’s results as a sign the UK’s largest retailer is beginning to tackle competition from discounters Aldi and Lidl.
Hannah Maundrell, editor of money.co.uk, said: “Tesco is still faced with fierce competition from the likes of Aldi and Lidl but it’s starting to catch up.
“These positive results suggest slim lining their operations by waving goodbye to a lot of 24 hour stores and fringe businesses, like Dobbies and Giraffe, last year was a good move by David Lewis.”
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