Tesco suffers fall in underlying sales
Tesco missed forecasts with a second consecutive quarterly fall in underlying sales in its domestic market as shoppers cut back on discretionary spending.
The supermarket group said sales at stores open at least a year fell 0.1 per cent, excluding petrol and changes in VAT sales tax, in the 13 weeks to May 28, the first quarter of its financial year.
That was better than a 0.7 percent decline the quarter before, but below analysts’ average forecast for a 0.6 per cent increase, according to a Reuters poll.
Group sales rose 6.7 per cent excluding petrol, helped by a stronger performance in most of its overseas markets compared with the previous quarter.