Sector movers: Supermarkets hit by competitive pressures

17th Dec 2013 15:31

Retail stocks were off shopping lists on Tuesday with supermarkets firmly out of favour after a gloomy report from Kantar Worldpanel.The consumer knowledge agency revealed that over half the country shopped in either Aldi or Lidl during the 12 weeks to December 8th for the first time in history.Some 50.1% of all British households shopped in discount retail chains during the period compared with 46.1% the year before."Both Aldi and Lidl have continued to record double-digit growth and are successfully broadening their shopper base with half of all British households visiting one of them during the latest period," said Chris Longbottom, Director at Kantar Worldpanel.Aldi's market share rose to a record 4% during the 12-week period, while Lidl's share remained at an all-time high of 3.1%. In contrast, the panel found that all of the Big Four grocers and with the Co-operative all lost market share during the period, causing the share prices of Tesco, Sainsbury and Morrison to fall on Tuesday afternoon in London.Elsewhere in the retail sector, Dixons Retail was a heavy faller despite the consumer electronics group recording its first underlying profit in six years during the first half.However, Chief Executive Sebastian James said Dixons remained cautious about the consumer outlook and warned that the second half would be more challenging given that it had now been a year since Comet disappeared from the market.Debenhams and Carpetright were also trading lower.Top performing sectors so far todayIndustrial Metals & Mining 1,289.05 +2.85%Forestry & Paper 10,367.43 +1.80%Industrial Transportation 3,249.24 +1.55%Fixed Line Telecommunications 4,331.41 +0.71%Chemicals 10,470.24 +0.65%Bottom performing sectors so far todayFood & Drug Retailers 4,345.88 -1.83%Oil Equipment, Services & Distribution 21,374.53 -1.19%General Retailers 2,633.55 -0.84%Personal Goods 23,724.37 -0.77%Food Producers & Processors 6,973.55 -0.58%BC