Tesco PLC (LON:TSCO) kept guidance unchanged after posting a small rise in quarterly sales compared to last year, when revenue was boosted by a huge surge in demand during the first Coronavirus (COVID-19) lockdown.
Trading benefited from increased at-home consumption during March but slowed in April and May as restrictions eased.
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Online demand remains high at 1.3mln orders per week with two-year sales growth of 81.6%.
The supermarket group saw revenue inch up 1% to £13.3bn in the 13 weeks ended 29 May, an 8% jump compared to the same period two years ago when very few people knew what Coronavirus was.
UK was up 0.5% to £10bn, the wholesale segment Booker was up 9% to £1.7bn thanks to the recovery in hospitality, Central Europe dipped 1.6% to £940mln and Ireland shed 6% to £641mln.
UK like-for-like fuel sales climbed 68.1% reflecting a significant recovery as the UK exits lockdown.
However, they remain below pre-pandemic levels with two-year like-for-like sales down by 15.2%. Total fuel sales for the quarter were £1.4bn.
The FTSE 100 group has maintained its 'Aldi Price Match' initiative on over 500 lines to strengthen its price position, while Clubcard Prices have been extended to all 1,844 Express stores.
In the banking segment, sales declined 10% although there was growth later in the quarter as it starts to lap COVID-19 and benefit from the full ownership of Tesco Underwriting in the results.
On 4 May, Tesco completed the acquisition of Ageas's 50.1% stake in Tesco Underwriting, so it’s now fully consolidated.