30th Jun 2015 09:07
LONDON (Alliance News) - Wm Morrison Supermarkets PLC for the second month in a row was the only member of the big four UK supermarkets to increase sales, according to Kantar Worldpanel UK's grocery market data published on Tuesday.
Morrisons sales rose 0.6% in the 12 weeks to June 21 to GBP2.79 billion from GBP2.77 billion in the same period a year earlier, as its market share increased to 11.0% from 10.9%.
"While only a small increase against a weak 2014, this does represent the first market share gains made by Morrisons since December 2011,? Fraser McKevitt, head of retail and consumer insight at Kantar Worldpanel said, adding that Morrisons' sales rise was supported by an increase in online shopping.
J Sainsbury PLC and Tesco PLC came in joint second place out of the big four in the Kantar data, both experiencing an annual sales decline of 1.3% in the period. Sainsbury's sales were at GBP4.18 billion, down from GBP4.23 billion a year before, as its market share declined to 16.5% from 16.7%, while Tesco sales fell to GBP7.24 billion from GBP7.34 billion, as its market share dropped to 28.6% from 28.9%.
The worst performer of the big four was Wal-Mart Stores Inc-owned Asda, whose sales fell 3.5% to GBP4.19 billion from GBP4.34 billion. Its market share declined to 16.5% from 17.1%.
Meanwhile, German discounters Aldi and Lidl both continued to perform strongly, growing sales by 15.4% and 9.1%, respectively. Aldi's market share rose to 5.5% from 4.7%, while Lidl's grew to 3.9% from 3.6%. Waitrose also grew ahead of the market, with sales increasing 1.2%, moving to a 5.1% market share.
"Groceries are now 1.7% cheaper compared with a year ago. Prices have been falling since September 2014, but the rate of decline is slowing, meaning they are projected to rise again by the end of this year," McKevitt said.
UK grocery inflation now stands at negative 1.7% for the period, meaning shoppers are now paying less for a representative basket of groceries than they did in 2014. Kantar said the increase from the negative 1.9% reported last month means that while prices are still falling, the rate of decline is slowing.
Morrisons shares were down 0.8% at 181.10 pence on Tuesday following the report, while Tesco shares were down 2.5% at 213.40p and shares in Sainsbury's fell 1.9% at 269.00 pence.
By Karolina Kaminska; [email protected] @KarolinaAllNews
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