UK supermarket group Tesco reported a small rise in first quarter like-for-like sales, reflecting the lifting of Covid restrictions as more people started to eat out again.
Group sales were up 1% to £13.3bn for the 13 weeks to May 29. On a two-year basis, before the pandemic struck, sales were up 8.1%. UK sales rose 0.5% to £10bn.
Two-year UK like-for-like growth of 9.3% included the retained benefit of customers consuming more meals at home against the pre-Covid period, which peaked in March at 14.6% and moderated in April/May as restrictions eased, the company said on Friday.
Online demand remained high at 1.3m orders per week with two-year sales growth of 81.6%; one-year sales growth of 22.2% reflected annualisation of surge in capacity in April last year
“Our profit guidance from April remains unchanged. While the market outlook remains uncertain, I’m pleased with the strong start we’ve made to the year and continue to be excited about the many opportunities we have to create value over the longer term,” said chief executive Ken Murphy.
