Tesco, Asda & Sainsbury's feel squeeze

Tesco, Asda and J Sainsbury lost market share over the 12 weeks to April 17, while Aldi, Lidl and Waitrose made significant gains, according to new figures from Kantar Worldpanel.

Over the three-month period, Tesco's share fell from 30.5pc to 30.4pc, Asda's dropped from 17.6pc to 17.4pc, while Sainsbury's share retreated from 16.4pc to 16.3pc.

The slack was picked up by their smaller rivals. Aldi grew its share from 3pc to 3.3pc, Lidl raised its share from 2.3pc to 2.6pc, while Waitrose increased its share from 4.1pc to 4.3pc. Wm Morrison also saw its share rise.

Edward Garner, a director at Kantar, said: "There is no doubt that [Aldi and Lidl] are now taking a larger portion of shoppers' spending."

Dave McCarthy, analyst at Evolution Securities, said: "Tesco continues to languish, seeping market share and feeding the growth at its peers."

He said the Kantar figures suggest like-for-like sales in the supermarket sector are down: "Stripping out inflation and VAT, underlying volumes are down significantly."

Source : James Hall - Telegraph.co.uk
www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/retailandconsumer/8478272/Tesco-Asda-and-Sainsbury-feel-the-squeeze-as-budget-stores-make-gains.html