Major supermarkets to reveal festive sales after bumper Christmas for rivals

The UK’s major supermarkets are set to reveal whether shoppers splurged this Christmas or reined in spending, after discounters Aldi and Lidl reported record festive sales.

Sainsbury’s, Tesco and Marks & Spencer will give investors an update on their recent sales.

The UK’s largest supermarket chain, Tesco, last year said it was benefitting from customers switching from “premium retailers” as they continued to assess their shopping budgets.

Analysts are expecting a strong end to the year for Tesco with like-for-like retail sales, excluding fuel, up 7% for the third quarter compared with the previous year, according to Jefferies.

Tesco has a “best-in-class offering”, according to Sophie Lund-Yates, lead equity analyst for Hargreaves Lansdown, because of its Clubcard pricing and its size and range of products.

The group has a 27.6% share of the grocery market, according to the latest figures from Kantar.

“The culture of treating ourselves at home bodes well for the sale of Tesco Finest products too, which have seen robust volume uplifts even before the festive season,” Ms Lund-Yates said.

Tesco will share its trading update on Thursday.

It comes after discounters Aldi and Lidl said they had record sales in the weeks leading up to Christmas, indicating that shoppers looked to reduce the costs of their festive celebrations.

Meanwhile, Sainsbury’s has seen its share of the grocery market grow to its highest level for three years after a busy festive season, Kantar data showed.

A group of analysts at Jefferies said Sainsbury’s third quarter grocery sales could rise by nearly a 10th compared with the previous year, as price rises continue to cool.

Ms Lund-Yates said: “Taste the Difference ranges are expected to have done well as people chose to treat themselves, despite the ongoing pressures on incomes.”

But shoppers preferring own-brand products, or signs that consumers are expected to tighten their belts, could result in a more cautious update from the firm on Wednesday, she said.

Sales for its clothing arm, Tu, tumbled by nearly 15% over the second quarter and investors will be looking for signs of demand recovering in the latest update.

Marks & Spencer will update investors on Christmas trading on Thursday.

The upmarket grocery chain shrugged off concerns last year that shoppers were cutting back on spending, seeing food sales surge and reporting a better-than-expected half-year profit.

Its homeware and clothing business has also seen an improvement in sales thanks to more people using its app and click-and-collect service.

Investors will be looking to see whether the high-street chain has maintained momentum in sales growth, which would mean total sales coming in higher than the £3.6 billion reported for the third quarter a year ago.