WMT Walmart Inc

By Ian Walker and Maryam Cockar

U.K. grocers grew sales in the latest 12 weeks to Aug. 12 as consumers splashed out on branded goods, especially savory snacks, drinks and ice-cream during the recent heatwave, a survey by Kantar Worldpanel showed Tuesday.

Sales at Tesco PLC (TSCO.LN), the U.K.'s number-one grocer by market share, rose 1.8% after it had strong growth in its Express convenience stores. Its market share declined by 0.5 percentage points to 27.4%.

Meanwhile, Kantar said J Sainsbury PLC (SBRY.LN) experienced its fastest rate of growth since January, with sales up 1.2% thanks to strong online sales and the growth of its premium "Taste the Difference" range. However, Sainsbury's market share fell by 0.4 percentage points to 15.5%.

German retailers Aldi and Lidl grew both market share and sales. Kantar said Aldi's sales rose 12.6%, helping the retailer grow its share of the market by 0.6 percentage points to 7.6%, thanks its fresh and chilled aisles, with meat, dairy and ready meals performing well.

Sales at Lidl increased 8.6% and its market share rose by 0.3 percentage points to 5.5%. Kantar said Lidl's premium own-label sales rose by nearly a third, while sales of branded products increased 37%.

Asda, a subsidiary of U.S. retail giant Walmart Inc. (WMT), saw its market share decline by 0.1 percentage point to 15.2%. Sales rose 2.6%, which Kantar said was the second-strongest growth of the U.K.'s big four supermarkets.

Wm. Morrison Supermarkets PLC's (MRW.LN) market share was unchanged at 10.4%, with sales increasing 2.7%.

Ocado Group PLC's (OCDO.LN) market share rose by 0.1 percentage point to 1.2% as sales grew 8.5%.

The market share of upmarket retailer Waitrose, a division of John Lewis Partnership PLC, fell by 0.1% percentage point to 5%, while sales rose 2.4%, Kantar said.

Write to Ian Walker at ian.walker@wsj.com; @IanWalk40289749 and Maryam Cockar at maryam.cockar@dowjones.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

August 21, 2018 04:08 ET (08:08 GMT)

Copyright (c) 2018 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.