Tesco says its convenience brands did “particularly well” at Christmas

The group made special mention of its convenience brands, which include Premier, Londis and Budgens and said that they did “particularly well”.

Tesco-owned Booker reported both retail and catering sales well ahead of pre-Covid levels with retail 19.5% ahead of 2019/20.

Tesco, which is Britain’s biggest retailer, recorded a 0.3% rise in like-for-like sales over the six weeks to 8 January compared with last year, with an improvement of 8.8% on the same period in 2019/20.

Chief executive Ken Murphy said: “Despite growing cost pressures and supply chain challenges in the industry, we continued to invest to protect availability, doubled down on our commitment to deliver great value and offered our strongest ever festive range.

“This put us in a strong position to meet customers’ needs as, once again, Covid-19 led to a greater focus on celebrating at home.

“As a result, we outperformed the market, growing market share and strengthening our value position.”