TSCO Tesco Plc

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 adam.clark@dowjones.com; @AdamDowJones

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

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

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