Tesco share price steady as group’s sales continue to grow

Shares in Tesco (LON:TSCO) have been steady in London this morning, as the latest industry numbers showed that the blue-chip supermarket was the fastest-growing of the UK’s big four retailers in the 12 weeks ending July 16, benefitting from a strong online performance. Britain’s biggest grocer, however, continued to lose market share during the reported period.

As of 10:26 BST, Tesco’s share price had added 0.72 percent to 173.75p, largely in line with gains in the broader UK market, with the benchmark FTSE 100 index currently standing 0.81 percent higher at 7,437.71 points. The grocer’s shares have added more than seven percent to their value over the past year, but are down by 16 percent in the year-to-date.
Kantar Worldpanel announced in a statement today that overall UK supermarket sales had increased 3.9 percent in the 12 weeks ended July 16, with retailers benefitting from ‘June’s hot spell’. At Tesco, sales grew 2.3 percent, making the group the fastest-growing ‘Big Four’ retailer on the back of strong performance online and in its larger stores.

The news comes after Britain’s biggest grocer fired the latest salvo in the ongoing supermarket war yesterday, launching same-day grocery deliveries across the whole of the UK.
“Tesco clearly sees its online business as a crucial component of its ongoing recovery, evidenced by its move into nationwide same day grocery delivery ahead of the competition,” Fraser McKevitt, head of retail and consumer insight at Kantar Worldpanel, commented in the statement, adding however, that it remained to be seen whether the investment would pay off.
“While it has the largest share of online sales Tesco overall is still losing market share, down 0.5 percentage points to 27.8 percent over the past 12 weeks,” he pointed out.
As of 10:50 BST, Tuesday, 25 July, Tesco PLC share price is 173.20p.