Supermarket giant Tesco today reported a halving in UK sales growth in the third quarter after it said like-for-like sales rose by 2%.
The 2% figure for the 13 weeks to November 22, excluding fuel, was down from the 4% reported in the previous three months. The company did not give a breakdown for sales at its Irish stores.
Tesco said inflation had fallen substantially in the three months to the end of September, with prices in its stores falling even faster, according to the retailer.
It said the recent launch of cut-price ranges but had deflated its sales by between two and three percentage points. However, Tesco said the move was seeing it attract 300,000 more UK customers each week.
Tesco said its UK business had made solid progress, but admitted it was not immune to the wider economic troubles.
''We are pleased with our progress, but we are also realistic - the current economic climate, and the strain this is putting on consumers everywhere, is something that all businesses are feeling, including ours,' the firm said.
Total group sales rose by 11.7% in the three-month period, Tesco added, with a particularly strong performance in Asia.
