Tesco's clothing sales rise 4.3 percent during holiday season

Tesco Group like-for-like sales grew by 1.1 percent for the 19 weeks to January 7, 2017. The company saw strong performance in clothing and toys, with sales up 4.3 percent and 8.5 percent respectively during the holiday season.

“We are very encouraged by the sustained strong progress that we are making across the Group,” said *Dave Lewis, Chief Executive of Tesco in a statement, adding, *“In the UK, we saw our eighth consecutive quarter of volume growth and delivered a third successful Christmas. Internationally, we have continued to focus on improving our offer for customers in challenging market conditions.”

UK like-for-like sales up 1.4 percent

The company said with a small number of new store openings largely offsetting the impact of UK non-core business disposals, total sales grew by 1 percent at constant rates. At actual exchange rates, total sales grew by 5.7 percent including a 4.7 percent positive foreign exchange translation effect due to a weakening of sterling against European and Asian currencies.

Like-for-like sales growth in the combined UK & ROI business over the 19-week period was 1.4 percent, representing a fourth consecutive reported period of growth. UK like-for-like sales grew by 1.8 percent in the third quarter, maintaining positive like-for-like sales growth into the Christmas period, building on last year’s strong performance.

Like-for-like sales in the Republic of Ireland grew by 0.1 percent, while international like-for-like sales were down 0.1 percent over the 19-week period with a similar performance in both Europe and Asia. Tesco saw good growth in market share in Thailand, Hungary and Slovakia and maintained its position in the Czech Republic.

In Europe, a sustained strong performance in the third quarter in Hungary, the Czech Republic and Slovakia helped to offset the impact of intense competitive activity in Poland. The company’s sales performance in Asia also reflected some weakening in consumer spending in Thailand during the Christmas period.

F&F clothing outperformed the market with 4 percent like-for-like sales growth over the Christmas period. Within this, seasonal clothing was particularly popular with sales up over 40 percent year-on-year.

Picture:Tesco