Tesco records surge in post-Christmas sales

The cost of dealing with the pandemic are projected to total £810 million this year, which is 10% higher than its earlier prediction, due to the spiralling cases across the country.

For the 19 weeks to January 9, Tesco’s UK sales increased by 7.6% y-o-y to £14.7 billion. For the final six weeks of the period, which included the peak Christmas trading season, there was 8.4% y-o-y growth. In all of its markets, Tesco reported 7% sales growth to just under £20 billion during the 19-week period, with online sales up by over 80% in that period, as more than seven million Christmas orders were delivered.

Chief executive Ken Murphy said: “Our focus on looking after our customers, including delivering record availability, robust safety measures and great value, has enabled us to maintain strong momentum through the Christmas period, outperforming the market every week. We delivered a record Christmas across all of our formats and channels. We’re in great shape to keep delivering in 2021 and beyond.”