Tesco pulls a cracker of a Christmas

TESCO is set to report bumper Christmas sales on Thursday, thanks to shoppers responding to the latest coronavirus restrictions by pampering themselves at home.

The supermarket giant is tipped to say that its sales rose 8 per cent at its third quarter trading update on Thursday. Sales of champagne and other luxury items are thought to have shot up as people enjoyed themselves at home, in the absence of being able to go out to pubs, restaurants and other leisure venues.

Based on the experience of rivals such as Morrisons and Sainsbury’s, which reported strong Christmas trading last week, analysts expect Tesco to say that it saw a surge in online grocery orders.

Sophie Lund-yates, equity analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown, said: “If Morrisons’ trading statement was anything to go by, smaller gatherings at Christmas won’t have dampened sales over the key festive period. If Tesco follows the trend, sales of festive fare will have skyrocketed.”

Thursday will also see Primark owner Associated British Foods reveal how much it expects the fast fashion chain to lose due to the new pandemic restrictions.

Primark does not have an online operation and the first lockdown last year cost it £650million a month in lost sales. It is thought that the latest restrictions will cost a further £650million.

While Primark struggles with its stores being shut, rivals JD Sports and Asos are tipped to say that they are enjoying strong online sales on Tuesday and Wednesday respectively.