Tesco and Sainsbury’s to shed light on Christmas sales performance

Sunday 05 January 2025 10:14 am

The UK’s greatest grocery store teams will shed gentle subsequent week on how they fared over the important thing Christmas interval amid strain on customers’ budgets.

Tesco and Sainsbury’s will each present third-quarter updates for buyers and analysts, the place they may reveal their gross sales for the weeks working as much as Christmas.

Each grocers are anticipated to disclose one other robust interval of development as latest investments in pricing proceed to pay dividends and win them extra customers.

Nevertheless, the updates additionally come as a raft of price will increase linked to the autumn Price range forged a shadow over their potential profitability for 2025.

Tesco, the UK’s largest bricks-and-mortar retailer, will replace its shareholders on 9 January.

In its earlier replace in October, Tesco bosses stated shoppers had been in “moderately good condition” transferring in the direction of Christmas, because it stated cuts to meals costs helped to drive robust gross sales volumes.

Complete gross sales throughout the group grew by 4 per cent to £31.5bn over the 26 weeks to 24 August, in contrast with the identical interval a yr earlier.

This got here regardless of an easing of food and drinks inflation.

Nevertheless, customers nonetheless face vital pressures on their budgets, with thousands and thousands nonetheless witnessing rises to rents and mortgages, alongside will increase in utility prices.

Tesco is amongst retailers to proceed specializing in pricing in consequence, investing closely into its Aldi worth match with a purpose to win customers from its German low cost rivals, alongside extra offers for Tesco Clubcard members.

Business information from consultants at Kantar final month estimated that Tesco noticed gross sales development of 5.2 per cent over the 12 weeks to 1 December.

This considerably outstripped the broader grocery market, which noticed 2.4 per cent development, serving to Tesco to extend its market share even additional.

Elsewhere within the sector, Sainsbury’s can also be anticipated to disclose one other rise in revenues when it studies its buying and selling figures on 10 January.

Sainsbury’s has additionally additional shored up its place as one of many UK’s largest retailers in latest months, rising its share of the UK grocery market to fifteen.9 per cent.

The London-based group is estimated to have witnessed 4.7 per cent gross sales development over the three months to 1 December, based on Kantar.

It comes after it stated group revenues elevated by 2.3 per cent to £17.2bn for the 28 weeks to 14 September, in an replace in November.

Nevertheless, the replace was dominated by warnings from the group’s bosses over the heavy influence of insurance policies from Rachel Reeves’ October Price range.

Chief government Simon Roberts revealed that the corporate is anticipating to face an additional £140m in prices because of larger nationwide insurance coverage contributions.

Traders can be eager for extra element on the group’s revenue outlook as soon as this, and the rise in nationwide minimal wage, comes into power in April.

By Henry Saker-Clark, PA Deputy Enterprise Editor