Supermarket giant Tesco said today that first quarter sales rose by 12.6% - excluding petrol - during a 'solid start' to its trading year.
The group said that international sales for the 13 weeks to the end of May increased by 20.1% at actual currency rates and by 11.4% at constant rates. It said this included a resilient performance in Europe, where despite recessionary conditions in a number of its markets, sales grew by 1.9%.
Growth in Asia was encouraging with sales up 43.8% helped by exchange rates and continued 'excellent' performance from the converted Homever stores in Korea.
In the US, customer numbers continue to grow strongly and sales grew by 174% in the three month period.
The group said the same-store sales increase in the UK, excluding VAT and fuel, was achieved with a return to growth in non-food sales. Sales rose by 4.3%.
Tesco said that operationally the business is performing in line with expectations and the outlook for the rest of the year remains unchanged.
