Aldi, Lidl U.K. Market Share Continues to Rise -Survey

German retailers Aldi and Lidl continue to take market share from the top four U.K. grocery chains--Tesco, Sainsbury's, Asda and Morrisons--a survey from Kantar Worldpanel showed Tuesday.

Aldi's (ALD.YY) U.K. market share rose to 6.8% in the 12 weeks ended Oct. 8, compared with 6.2% in the same period a year earlier, while Lidl increased its share from 4.6% to 5.2% , Kantar said. Kantar monitors the household grocery purchasing habits of 30,000 demographically representative households in the U.K.

The combined market share of the two German retailers grew to 12% in the 12 weeks to Oct. 8, up from 10.8% the prior year, the survey showed.

"Aldi and Lidl collectively added an additional 390 million pounds ($517.9 million) in sales this quarter, which accounts for half of the entire market's overall growth this period," said Fraser McKevitt, head of retail and consumer insight at Kantar Worldpanel.

Aldi's sales in the 12 weeks grew 13.4% to GBP1.74 billion, while Lidl's sales rose 16% to GBP1.33 billion.

Tesco PLC (TSCO.LN) maintained its position as the leading grocer in the U.K., according to Kantar, despite its market share declining to 27.9% in the latest 12 weeks, from 28.2% in the comparable period. Tesco's sales in the 12 weeks were GBP7.12 billion, up 2.1%.

J Sainsbury PLC's (SBRY.LN) market share in the 12 weeks ended Oct. 8 fell to 15.8%, from 16%, while sales have increased 1.9% to GBP4.02 billion, Kantar reported.

Asda, a subsidiary of Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (WMT), saw its market share fall to 15.4%, from 15.6% for the comparable 12 weeks, with sales 1.8% higher at GBP3.93 billion. Wm. Morrison Supermarkets PLC's (MRW.LN) market share declined to 10.3%, from 10.4%, while sales increased by 2.8% to GBP2.63 billion.

The market share of up-market retailer Waitrose, a division of John Lewis Partnership PLC (LEJ.YY), fell slightly to 5.3% in the 12 weeks to Oct. 8, from 5.4%, while sales climbed 2.3% to GBP1.36 billion, Kantar added.

Kantar data also showed that combined U.K. supermarket sales increased 3.1% in the 12 weeks ended Oct. 8, marking the 17th period of growth in a row for Britain's grocers.

Write to Adria Calatayud at adria.calatayudvaello@dowjones.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

October 17, 2017 04:00 ET (08:00 GMT)