A report from Barclays European Food Retail Equity Research has suggested that Tesco may be in line to post an improved Q1 performance, however, it suggested that the quarter will not 'mark a decisive upturn in sales trends for the group'.
Tesco releases its Q1 figures on 26 June, the same day as its AGM.
"The apparent ease with which Tesco delivered an improved UK LFL sales performance over the Christmas period (-0.3 per cent) set expectations high," Barclays said in a statement. "Since then, sales have dipped somewhat, although if our forecast (-2.3 per cent) for 1Q is correct, then this would still be an improvement over last year overall."
Should its forecast be accurate, Tesco would outperform its UK 'Big Four' peers Asda and Morrisons, which posted sales dips of 3.9 per cent and 2.9 per cent, respectively, for their most recent quarters.
Barclays estimates that Tesco's European like-for-like sales will grow by 0.5 per cent for the quarter.
© 2015 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest retail news. Article by Stephen Wynne-Jones.
