Tesco has increased its UK sales by 9.4 per cent in the first quarter of its financial year, a performance described by ceo Sir Terry Leahy as "solid progress".
Excluding petrol, like-for-like sales rose by 3.5 per cent in UK stores during the 13 weeks to May 24, which met both the forecasts of Tesco and analysts' expectations.
Food sales have underpinned the continuing growth, while consumers react the to the current financial climate by slowing down their spending on non-food lines.
“We have made a solid start to the year in the UK,” said Sir Terry. “Excluding petrol, like-for-like sales for the quarter increased by 3.5 per cent - well within our expected performance range. Net new stores contributed 3.2 per cent, bringing the total growth to 6.7 per cent.
“Although food category performance has been good, our rate of growth in non-food has eased as consumers have become more cautious with their spending during recent months. Our strong competitive position has meant that our non-food growth has remained significantly stronger than the wider market.
Total sales rose 13.7 per cent, driven by an international sales expansion of a further 26.6 per cent. "Our international operations, helped in part by favourable exchange rate movements, have delivered an excellent start to the year," said Leahy.
"We've made a good start to the financial year thanks to the growing breadth of the group and the strength of the Tesco business model - this has been achieved despite the more uncertain economic environment," said Leahy.
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