Tesco Narrows Sainsbury's Growth Gap

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Declining food price inflation has led to the UK's two leading supermarket operators, Tesco and J. Sainsbury, recording lower like-for-like sales growth in their fiscal second quarters. In the three months to August Tesco registered like-for-like sales growth of 3.1% (excluding fuel and VAT), which compares with growth of 4.3% in its first quarter. Meanwhile, in its second quarter ending October 3, Sainsbury's registered like-for-like sales growth of 5.4%, compared to a figure of 7.8% for its first quarter. The deceleration was notably sharper at Sainsbury (see chart) and concern that the company may have lost some ground in the