U.K. Grocers' Sales Continue Rising in Autumn After Summer Spending

By Adam Clark

U.K. grocers' sales continued to grow in the 12 weeks to October 7. but the rate of growth slowed slightly after a hot summer, according to a survey by Kantar Worldpanel released Tuesday. Overall sales were up 3.2% against the same period the prior year.

Tesco PLC (TSCO.LN), the U.K.'s number-one grocer by market share, increased sales by 0.9%. Its market share fell 0.6 percentage points to 27.4%.

J Sainsbury PLC (SBRY.LN) sales rose 0.6%, and its market share fell 0.4 percentage points to 15.4%.

German budget retailers Aldi and Lidl continued to increase sales well above the wider rate and continue taking market share. Aldi sales rose 15%, and its market share increased 0.8 percentage points to 7.6%. Lidl sales rose 10%, and its market share increased 0.4% percentage point to 5.6%.

Sales at Asda, a subsidiary of U.S. retail giant Walmart Inc. (WMT), rose 2.4%, as did sales at Wm. Morrison Supermarkets PLC (MRW.LN). Asda's market share dropped 0.2 percentage points to 15.3%, while Morrisons' share was unchanged at 10.3%.

Ocado Group PLC (OCDO.LN) sales rose 7.5%, helping boost its market share by 0.1 percentage point to 1.2%.

At 0738 GMT, shares in Ocado were up 4.4% at 824 pence, leaving it the best performing stock in the FTSE 100. Tesco shares were down 2.3%.

Write to Adam Clark at [e-mail]; @AdamDowJones

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

October 16, 2018 04:02 ET (08:02 GMT)

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