LONDON: Tesco has reported a slower rate of decline in sales at its UK stores as the retailer continues its plan to stem the flow of customers choosing discounters such as Lidl and Aldi.
Tesco said UK sales fell 1.3% for the three months to the end of May.
In the same period a year ago, UK sales dropped by 4%.
“We are fixing the fundamentals of shopping to win back customers and relying less on short-term couponing,” said chief executive Dave Lewis.
The UK result beat analysts’ forecasts of a fall of 1.6%-3% and is also an improvement on the 1.7% fall reported in the fourth quarter of the last financial year. In early trading, Tesco’s shares rose 3.3%.
Including its international businesses, group sales dropped 1.3% in the quarter compared with a 3.4% dip a year ago.
Mr Lewis, who took the helm in September, is trying to revive the fortunes of Britain’s largest supermarket after it reported the worst loss in its history in April.
Tesco reported a full-year pre-tax loss of £6.4bn, one of the largest in UK corporate history. About £4.7bn of the losses were the result of the fall in property value of its UK stores, 43 of which it said would close.
