Tesco shares drop after 'disappointing' Christmas
Shares in Tesco have plummeted by ten per cent after the retail giant said it was "disappointed" by its seasonal trading in the UK.
The grocer warned that it expected "minimal" profit growth for 2012 as it continues to increase its investment ventures elsewhere.
Like-for-like sales, which do not include the effects of new store openings, fell by 2.3 per cent excluding fuel and VAT. The firm also said that group sales for the seven weeks to 7th January rose 5.2 per cent including petrol, and 4 per cent excluding petrol.
Richard Hunter, from Hargreaves Lansdown Stockbrokers, said that the promotional-heavy market has seen Tesco suffer.
"Unfortunately the big price drop reported in this update will be remembered as more reflective of the shares than the campaign," he added.
Tesco did, however, report online sales growth in the UK of 14 per cent across food and non-food.
Rival Sainsbury's recently announced that it had posted record Christmas sales.
12 January 2012, 13:02
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13/01/2012
obviously this is a bad time for those looking to sell shares, but the rest of us might benefit from a closer level of competition.