Tesco sales rise

Tesco has announced a rise in group sales of 13.9% in the third quarter.

“The core UK business has delivered another strong performance against tougher comparatives; in non-food, sales and market share have increased; our international operations have made good progress and our retailing services businesses have continued to attract new customers,” Tesco said in a statement to the financial markets.

UK sales grew by 11.6% in the 14 weeks to 19 November 2005, with like-for-like growth of 7.9% and 3.7% from net new stores. Like-for-like sales growth in the quarter, excluding petrol, was 5.5%. Inflation overall was 0.5% but excluding petrol, Tesco stores saw deflation of 1.6% as Tesco cut prices. Non-food sales continued to see double-digit sales growth in the period.

International sales in the third quarter increased by 23.3% at actual exchange rates and by 16.0% at constant rates.