Tesco has posted its latest quarterly set of results, for the third quarter 2014/15, with the group's Irish business posting a quarterly like-for-like sales decline of 6.2%.
This follows on from two previous quarters of like-for-like declines, with sales dropping 5.5% in the retailer's Q1, and 7.3% in Q2.
Tesco Ireland's sales over the six-week Christmas period (to 3 January) were also disappointing, with like-for-like sales down 5.5% for the period. Combined, the 13 week Q3 period and six week Christmas period saw a 19-week sales decline of 6.0%.
While chief executive Dave Lewis did not reference Ireland directly in his comments, he did note that the group's like-for-like Europe performance was 'held back by our performance in Ireland'.
Matt Davies, Group Chief Executive of Halfords Group plc, has been appointed as the new CEO for the UK and Ireland business, effective 1st June.
David Gray, retail analyst at Planet Retail, commented, "The overseas empire, once Tesco’s reliable sidekick in a tight spot, continues to struggle. From Europe to Asia there seems no end in sight to stuttering sales. Worse may yet be in store for a retailer seemingly bereft of solutions to its global decline.”
Overall, Tesco group sales for the 19 weeks to 3 January 2015 declined by (0.6)% at constant rates, including fuel and (1.0)% excluding fuel. At actual rates, sales declined by (1.9)% including fuel and by (2.3)% excluding fuel. UK sales fell 1.3%.
© 2014 - Checkout Magazine by Stephen Wynne-Jones
