In the Republic of Ireland, Tesco’s sales growth increased by 2.7%, as the retailer struggled in a subdued home market.
The group said its successes in Ireland came as a result of its ‘You Won’t Pay More’ campaign, in addition to targeted coupon activity.
The British retailer has today posted its first-quarter trading statement which revealed that Tesco Ireland achieved sales of £567 million (€637 million) in the three months ending 25 May.
It is a 1.3% increase on a like-for-like basis.
Subdued Home Market
In the UK, whilst overall grocery market growth was subdued, Tesco struggled with the closure of Tesco Direct in July, impacting sales growth by 0.8%.
Total UK sales fell by 0.4% to just over £9 billion.
Total sales for Tesco in the UK and Ireland (including its Booker chain) reached £11 billion, a 1.3% increase in constant rates.
It said this was due to further investments in range, price and loyalty as part of its ‘100 Years of Great Value’ celebrations for customers.
Chief executive Dave Lewis said that the company had a strong start to the year, growing ahead of the UK market on both a volume and value basis (by 0.2% and 1.3% respectively).
“Our customer offer is more competitive than ever, with a wider choice of our 'Exclusively at Tesco' products now available in more stores, helping to drive more than 10% sales growth across the range,” he said.
“Following a particularly good Easter, our ‘100 Years of Great Value’ event in May proved very popular with more than 1.5 million customers benefiting from discounted Clubcard Prices.”
© 2019 Checkout – your source for the latest Irish retail news. Article by Aidan O’Sullivan. Click sign-up to subscribe to Checkout.
