MRW Morrison (wm) Supermarkets Plc

By Razak Musah Baba

LONDON--The U.K.'s four biggest supermarket chains have experienced a fall in market share while discount chains Aldi and Lidl have reached a combined share high of 10.5%, according to a market survey published Tuesday.

Sales at Tesco were down 1.3% to 7.16 billion pounds ($9.53 billion) in the 12 weeks ended June 19, Kantar said, while its market share slipped to 28.2% from 28.6%. Kantar monitors the household grocery purchasing habits of 25,000 demographically representative households in the U.K.

Asda, a subsidiary of Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (WMT), saw its market share fall to 15.6% from 16.5% for the comparable 12 weeks, as sales dropped 5.9% to GBP3.94 billion.

Aldi's market share rose to 6.1% in the 12 weeks ended June 19 from 5.5% and Lidl's market share rose to 4.4% from 3.9%.

Kantar said sales at Sainsbury PLC (SBRY.LN) fell 1.4% to GBP4.12 billion, while the retailer's market share in the 12 weeks ended June 19 fell to 16.3% from 16.5% a year earlier.

Sales at Wm Morrison Supermarkets PLC (MRW.LN) were 2.4% lower in the period at GBP2.73 billion, while the company's market share rose to 10.8% from 11.0%.

Waitrose's market share rose to 5.2% from 5.1% in the 12 months ended June 19, while sales climbed 1.3% to GBP1.31 billion.

"The decline is a continuation of the slow supermarket sector growth dating back to summer 2014, primarily a result of cheaper everyday groceries brought about by a retailer price war," said Fraser McKevitt, head of retail and consumer insight at Kantar Worldpanel.

"While these latest figures predate the E.U. referendum result, the immediate economic uncertainty is unlikely to cause a substantial fall in grocery volumes, as demonstrated by the 2008 financial crisis when basic food, drinks and household sales proved resilient," Mr. McKevitt said.

Write to Razak Musah Baba at razak.baba@wsj.com; Twitter: @Raztweet

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

June 28, 2016 04:16 ET (08:16 GMT)

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