Tesco decided to recapture 30% grocery market share for first time in additional than a decade

Tesco will try to reassure shareholders this week that it is still on track to recapture a 30 per cent grocery market share for the first time in more than a decade.

Britain’s largest supermarket has struggled to maintain progress amid competition from discount rivals Lidl and Aldi, plus higher employment costs.

Researcher firm Worldpanel found its market share fell to 27.8 per cent in the three months to September 6 – from 28.1 per cent the year before. 

At its peak in 2007 Tesco accounted for almost £1 in every £3 spent at the checkout tills before dipping to a low of 25.6 per cent in 2020.

The stakes are especially high for Tesco’s £10.8million-a-year boss Ken Murphy, whose bonus this year is tied to the market share performance. 

Tesco made profits of £3.1billion last year but analysts have a wide range of forecasts between £3billion and £3.3billion for this year because of uncertainty caused by the ongoing Iran war.

Rising cost-of-living pressures and the hot summer are likely to have limited first-half sales growth to 3 per cent, taking total sales to £37billion.