15th Jan 2008 07:00
Tesco PLC15 January 2008 CHRISTMAS & NEW YEAR TRADING STATEMENT STRONG GROWTH AT TESCO The Tesco Group has delivered a strong performance and record sales over theChristmas and New Year period, driven by rapid expansion internationally andsolid growth in the UK. In the six weeks to 5 January 2008, Group salesincreased by 12.8%, a faster rate of growth than in our third quarter. Excellent Progress in International Our overseas businesses traded well over the Christmas and New Year period, withInternational sales growing by 26.9%, with strong growth in both Europe andAsia. In Central Europe we saw sales growth of almost 30% and in some of our newercountries we saw exceptionally good progress - with, for example, Turkey growingby more than 80% and Malaysia by more than 60%. In the US, the early customer response to Fresh & Easy has been veryencouraging. We now have 28 stores trading in Southern California, Las Vegas andPhoenix. Solid UK Performance Total UK sales grew by 8.0%, comprising like-for-like growth of 5.1% and 2.9%from net new space. Like-for-like sales excluding petrol, increased by 3.1% inthe period. The Tesco team delivered an even better shopping trip for customers than lastyear and a profitable seasonal period for the business - by providing highstandards of service and availability whilst meeting the challenges posed byhaving two short trading days immediately before Christmas. Non-food sales performed well with good market share growth across mostcategories, including clothing, entertainment and books. Our on-line businesses, tesco.com and Tesco Direct, had a very successfulChristmas, with total sales up by 24% to over £190 million with well over 2million orders delivered in the six weeks. Sales of MP3 players, digital camerasand laptops were particularly strong. Contacts:- Investor Relations: Steve Webb 01992 644 800Press: Jonathan Church 01992 646 606 Angus Maitland 020 7379 5151 This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock ExchangeRelated Shares:
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