You are in > manchester.com  > News > Tesco maintains pre-Christmas growth

Business

Tesco maintains pre-Christmas growth

05/12/2006

Supermarket giant Tesco has revealed sales have continued to rise during the last three months ahead of the crucial festive season.

Two months ago the firm revealed it had made half-year profits of £1.1 billion, and today Britain's largest supermarket chain said like-for-like sales had risen 4.4 per cent in the 13 weeks to November 25th.

The company said in a trading statement that "strong growth" had been experienced across all its business areas, although falling petrol prices had a dampening effect on overall growth.

Excluding petrol, Tesco's like-for-like sales, which exclude new stores, were up 5.6 per cent.

A statement today said: "The group maintained strong growth during the third quarter, driven by all four parts of our strategy."

Quarterly international sales were up 17.9 per cent, with the company revealing it plans to open 300 stores outside of the UK over the next six months.

"The core UK business delivered another strong performance; in non-food, sales and market share again increased in a subdued market; our international operations made further good progress and our retailing services businesses continued to attract new customers," today's statement added.

© Adfero Ltd