JD Sports has become the latest retailer to unveil how it fared in the key Christmas period as the slew of festive updates lays bare the winners and losers over the “golden quarter”.
A raft of major high street firms, including Tesco, Marks & Spencer and Next, have already unveiled their latest sales figures.
The figures so far have shed light on how consumer spending has held up this Christmas, with signs of resilience, particularly across the grocery sector, but continued reticence over buying big ticket items.
Firms including Next have also warned that prices are set to rise this year as they prepare to be hit by soaring costs linked to the autumn Budget in April.
Here the PA news agency looks at who the festive success stories are so far, and which retailers have appeared more downbeat.
Potential winners
– Next High street fashion firm Next was among the first retailers to provide a Christmas update and impressed the markets after lifting its profit guidance due to higher sales.
The business, which runs hundreds of UK stores, saw shares rise by 3.7% after it revealed last week that a better-than-expected 5.7% rise in underlying full-price sales for its fourth quarter so far.
Next upgraded its guidance on Tuesday (Ian West/PA)
As a result, it said profits are expected to rise by around 10% for the year, ahead of previous targets.
The group however suggested that sales growth could slow in the new financial year amid pressure on household finances.
Next was also among high street firms to warn that its prices will rise in 2025 due to the impact of recent Budget measures.
– Tesco The UK’s largest bricks-and-mortar retailer, Tesco, was among the strongest performers over the Christmas after it continued strong recent trading.
Tesco reported that its sales were up 3.1% in total over the 19 weeks to January 4.
As a result, the retailer revealed that it has grown to have a 28.5% share of the UK grocery market, its largest market share since 2016, as it won shoppers from grocery rivals.
– Lidl Lidl is another retailer who has clawed customers from its rivals by investing in its pricing over the past year.
The German supermarket group’s UK arm revealed that sales increased by 7% year-on-year, as turnover surpassed £1 billion over the four weeks to December 24, in a “record Christmas” performance.
Lidl has increased its market share over the past year (Andrew Matthews/PA)
It said customers snapped up its Christmas party food and champagne as they sought to celebrate on a budget.
Experts at Kantar said the retailer saw the strongest growth of the UK’s main bricks-and-mortar supermarket chains.
Potential losers
– Asda The UK’s third-largest supermarket group was among those to see their share of the grocery market shrink in recent months.
The company has not yet provided its own official trading update for Christmas, but figures from Kantar indicated that it saw sales drop by 5.8% over the 12 weeks to December 29.
The private equity-backed business has launched a turnaround plan under returning boss Allan Leighton in an effort to return it to stable footing.
JD Sports shares fell after its Christmas trading update (Jonathan Brady/PA)
– JD Sports Shares in JD Sports dropped by about a tenth early on Tuesday after the high street chain lowered its profit outlook for the year.
JD Sports revealed the weaker outlook after flagging a challenging fashion market that saw rivals push through heavy discounting in the run-up to Christmas.
It said sales in November and December were 1.5% lower than the same period a year earlier.
– B&M B&M was another retailer which saw investors react negatively towards its festive trading update.
It saw its share value also slump over a tenth after its UK sales dipped over the final quarter after new store openings were taken into account.
Analysts suggested the company saw a dearth of activity in October and November as its shoppers cut their spending in the run up to Christmas.
– Co-Op The Co-op was the only other mainstream grocer to see sales slump over the final three months of the year, alongside Asda.
Kantar showed the retailer saw sales slip by 0.2% for the period.
Nevertheless, it comes amid a period of upheaval for the business, after selling its petrol forecourt business in 2022 in an effort to improve its finances.
Despite drifting the sales the company returned to profit last year as it continues its turnaround efforts.
Others
– M&S Marks & Spencer saw recent strong growth continue over the key Christmas period, with sales rising by 8.7%.
However, it saw shares slide sharply on Thursday last week after it laid out a more cautious outlook than analysts had hoped for.
Marks & Spencer posted another jump in sales (Jonathan Brady/PA)
M&S warned that the economic picture “remained uncertain” for the coming year, taking the shine off its bumper sales growth.
It vowed to pass on “as little as possible” amid speculation that a £120 million jump in costs following the autumn budget could impact prices for customers.
– Sainsbury’s
Sainsbury’s was another retailer where analysts highlighted a mixed picture, as shares slipped despite the firm reporting its “biggest ever Christmas”.
The retail giant said overall group sales, excluding fuel, were up 2.7% for the 16 weeks to January 4, driven by strong momentum in its grocery business.
However, investor sentiment was weaker amid wider concerns over consumer demand.
– Aldi
Discount supermarket Aldi has said it notched up more than £1.6 billion in sales over the key festive month, as shoppers traded up to its premium ranges.
The German-owned group, Britain’s fourth biggest supermarket, said total sales rose 3.4% in the four weeks to Christmas Eve.
However, Kantar data suggested that Aldi sales grew at a slower rate than the wider grocery sector over the final three months of last year.
– What is still to come?
There are still a raft of major retailers who are still to report on their Christmas trading figures.
Later this week, Currys and Dunelm will be among retailers to provide updates.
Primark owner Associated British Foods will be among those to update the market the following week.
