Tesco upbeat despite slower sales growth

Supermarket giant Tesco said today that trading remained strong, despite a slowdown in its rate of like-for-like sales growth over the past 14 weeks.

The retailer said sales excluding petrol were 5.5% higher than a year earlier in the quarter to November 19, down from the figure of 6.7% reported for the previous six months and slightly lower than some City forecasts.