The week ahead

Sep 26 2008 By Andrew Mernin

Marks & Spencer’s declining sales and Tesco’s performance in the face of discount rivals will be the main talking points next week.

Tesco’s interim results will be scrutinised this week for any evidence that discounters are impacting sales performance.

Tighter household budgets in recent months have seen the market shares of operators like Aldi and Lidl rise to new highs, with sales at higher end stores like Waitrose and Marks & Spencer slowing accordingly.

Industry figures last week also revealed a declining market share for Tesco, down from 31.7% to 31.5% during the 12 weeks to September 7. By contrast, the share for Aldi rose from 2.6% to 2.9%.

Tesco, which operates around 2,100 stores in the UK, has responded to the discounting shift in recent months with a raft of price promotions and adverts comparing its prices to those of Aldi. It also bills itself as ``Britain’s biggest discounter".

The group’s first quarter sales grew by 3.5% - in line with management forecasts and City estimates. At the time of the retailer’s April annual results Tesco said same-store sales were running above 4%.

In his first quarter update, group chief executive Sir Terry Leahy said the company had made a ``solid start" in the UK although non-food sales growth slowed as consumers took a more cautious approach to spending.

Online and in print next week in nebusiness:

The Evening Gazette looks at potentially lucrative opportunities in the French export market following EDF's nuclear takeover.

It also publishes a report on the booming equine industry and talks to one of the biggest players in the European paintball sector.

Meanwhile The Journal meets the boss of one of the region's most popular radio stations and brings you its regular in-depth weekly reports on commercial property and digital businesses on Wednesday and Thursday respectively.