Tesco sees UK LFL sales down, US business strong

Tesco, the FTSE 100 retailing giant, has seen like-for-like sales drop in its UK stores by 0.9% in the third quarter compared to the equivalent period of 2010. The figure excludes income from VAT and Petrol but is in line with the performance during the second quarter.

This figure comes despite the group's Big Price Drop campaign which has seen significant discounting.

Elsewhere, Tesco's closely watched US venture, Fresh and Easy has seens like-for-like growth of 11.9%.

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The Asian business was affected by an unseasonably hot Autumn in China and Korea and flooding in Thailand. The effect, says Tesco, was like-for-like sales slowing sharply to 0.8% for the quarter.

In Europe the company says Central Europe did well, particularly Poland and Slovakia. Overall like-for-like in the Europe division grew slightly to 0.9% between July and September.

In its other businesses, Tesco Bank is described as "making steady progress"with total revenues up 4.4%.

Tesco says it is "performing broadly in line with market expectations".

Shares in the firm were down 0.25% at 396p just after the open.

BS