Tesco PLC (LSE:TSCO) will be looking to solidify its dominance over the grocery market in a third-quarter Christmas update on Thursday, January 9.
Early signals from discounters Lidl and Aldi have pointed to solid festive trading for grocery retailers so far, with each flagging 7.0% and 3.4% sales growth for December respectively.
Tesco’s update will provide further clarity on whether cost pressures saw shoppers flock to the cheaper retailers to fill Christmas baskets, or stick by staple brands.
According to UBS analysts, sales are expected to have grown by 4% over the course of the third quarter, in line with anticipations for full-year retail pre-tax earnings of £2.97 billion.
Kantar figures in December had alluded to “good momentum” in the run-up to Christmas, UBS pointed out, as Tesco strengthened its grip on the grocery market.
Tesco racked up its largest share of the market, at 28.1%, since December 2017 over the 12 weeks to December 1, according to the figures.
Sales were up 5.2% in the meantime, placing Tesco further ahead of closest rival J Sainsbury PLC (LSE:SBRY), which nudged its market share up by 0.3 percentage points to 15.9%.