Tesco reports modest Xmas sales growth in 'subdued' market

British retailer Tesco reported a 0.1% rise in underlying UK Christmas sales in what it described as a “subdued” market.

The UK's largest retailer said it had its biggest day of UK food sales in its history on the back of its “best operational performance in six years”.

In the third quarter to November 23, like-for-like sales fell by 0.4%, Tesco said on Thursday.

"In a subdued UK market we performed well, delivering our fifth consecutive Christmas of growth," said chief executive Dave Lewis.

"Whilst the UK environment has clearly been challenging, the combination of our attractive customer offer and strong operational delivery enabled us to outperform the market once again, following on from our strong performance last year."

“Over the Christmas period we outperformed the market in both volume and value terms with a strong performance in fresh food.”

Tesco said it had taken no decision on the future of its Thailand and Malaysia business after announcing in December it was considering putting them up for sale.

Third quarter like-for-like sales in Asia fell 1.6% and were 1.4% lower over Christmas.