Britain's biggest supermarket group Tesco (TSCO.L), No. 2 Sainsbury's (SBRY.L) and discounter Lidl were winners at Christmas, posting sales growth of 5.0%, 3.5% and 6.6%respectively, according to industry data published on Tuesday.
No. 3 Asda remained the industry laggard, with sales down 5.8% in the 12 weeks to Dec. 29 compared with the previous year, market researcher Kantar said.
Tesco's strong performance increased its share of the market to 28.5%, while Sainsbury's achieved its highest share since December 2019 at 16.0%.
Annual grocery price inflation was 3.7% in the four week December period, its highest level since March, and a jump on the 2.6% in last month's report.
UK supermarkets have warned that tax rises and another increase in the national minimum wage will be inflationary in 2025.
Kantar said 13 billion pounds ($16.3 billion) passed through UK supermarket tills over the four weeks to Dec. 29, with take-home grocery sales up 2.1% year-on-year.
In terms of sales over the 12-week period, Marks & Spencer's (MKS.L) food and drink business rose 8.7%, Kantar said, while online supermarket Ocado (OCDO.L) came in top with a 9.6% jump.
UK supermarkets' market share and sales growth (%)
Source: Kantar
($1 = 0.7970 pounds)
