City analysts wasted no time in declaring Tesco (TSCO) the strongest performer of the ‘Big Four’ supermarkets over Christmas, after the group revealed a strong performance across all categories, including food, clothing and home.
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Like-for-like sales rose by 2.6 per cent in the UK and Ireland over the festive period, and by 1.9 per cent over the entire third quarter. Weakness in central Europe and Asia offset some of this, muting overall group sales growth to just 0.5 per cent for the quarter. But third-quarter sales at wholesaler Booker rose by a staggering 10.7 per cent, excluding tobacco, and by 8.2 per cent over Christmas.
