Citi analysts, in their review of new UK supermarket till roll data, noted that the performance gap between Tesco PLC (LSE:TSCO) and J Sainsbury PLC (LSE:SBRY) and the discount retailers has widened, reflecting a tougher trading backdrop for the traditional grocers.
Overall, Citi noted that supermarket till roll sales rose 4.1% in the four weeks to 5 October, easing from a previous print of 4.8% growth in the previous period.
The bank highlighted that food inflation increased to 5.2%, while volume and mix reduced overall sales by 110 basis points.
Tesco and Sainsbury’s continued to outperform the wider market with growth of 6.1% and 5.4%, respectively.
Despite being the top performers among the big names TSCO and SBRY’s performance relative to the discounters worsened..
Elsewhere, Asda’s sales contracted by 4.4%, but, Marks and Spencer Group PLC (LSE:MKS) saw grocery sales increase 9.8%, accelerating from 7% in the prior period.