Supermarket leaders Tesco PLC (LON:TSCO) and J Sainsbury plc (LON:SBRY) both saw a decline in sales in the latest Kantar Worldpanel UK grocery market data although Wm Morrison Supermarkets PLC (LON:MRW) maintained its recent recovery.
In the 12 weeks ended March 26, Morrison’s achieved sales growth of 0.3% year-on-year, although its market share slipped to 10.4% from 10.5%. It was the third consecutive period Morrison’s sales have beaten their ‘Big Four’ rivals.
Neil Wilson, senior market analyst at ETX Capital said: “Figures from Kantar today underline the positive outlook many in the market has on Morrisons versus its major peers, but the relatively slow pickup in sales maybe has some doubting the recent run of form can continue in the face of a potential pullback in consumer spending.”
Tesco posted a 0.4% sales decline, and Sainsbury's saw its sales fall by 0.7%. Tesco's market share decreased to 27.6% from 28.1%, as Sainsbury's market share fell to 16.1% from 16.4%.
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The decline at Tesco comes after the UK grocery leader had achieved sixth consecutive periods of growth prior to the latest period.
Aldi, Lidl march on …
German discounters Aldi and Lidl continued to deliver significant growth, with sales up 14% and 15%, respectively.
The pair now have a combined 11.7% share of the UK grocery market, compared to 10.4% a year before.
The final ‘Big Four’ member Asda - which is owned by US retail giant Wal-Mart Stores Inc (NYSE:WMT) - once again came in last place as its sales fell by 1.8% and market share declined to 15.7% from 16.2%.
Elsewhere, sales for the Co-op were up 0.8%, while upmarket grocer Waitrose, owned by the John Lewis Partnership, saw its sales rise by 0.3%, and sales at Iceland grew by 9.8%.
ETX’s Wilson said: “The pie is getting bigger – total supermarket sales rose 1.4% - but the slices are being carved differently.”