Partner Article

Tesco UK sales fall

UK sales at Tesco have fallen over the past quarter, in what the retailer described “ a challenging quarter for the industry as a whole“.

Like-for-like sales excluding petrol and VAT fell by 1.5%, although total global sales increased by 2.2%.

In April Tesco outlined plans to spend £1 billion on revamping its UK operation, and according to chief executive Philip Clarke the plan is being rapidly implemented. 4,300 extra staff have already been recruited across 700 stores.

100 stores have been “refreshed” since the beginning of 2012, while more than 145,000 employees have been given additional training.

Commenting on the retailer’s overseas operations, Mr Clarke said: “Internationally, like-for-like sales growth proved resilient, despite slowing economic growth in China.

Tesco’s profit targets have remained unchanged, which has helped shares to rise 1.8% in early trading on Monday.

The Jubilee had also given Tesco a boost, after sales of £1 billion were recorded. This is the highest on record, apart from Christmas.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ruth Mitchell .