LONDON, Feb 3 (Reuters) - Grocers associated with low prices like Wm Morrison and Asda continue to gain UK market share at the expensive of rivals, according to the latest data from market researchers TNS Worldpanel.
They said on Tuesday that Morrison, Britain's fourth-biggest supermarket group, was the fastest growing of the big four grocery chains in the 12 weeks to Jan. 25, with sales up 9.7 percent within a market growing by 6.4 percent.
Industry number two Asda, owned by U.S. retail giant Wal-Mart, was second on 8.1 percent, while number three J Sainsbury was on 5.5 percent and market leader Tesco on 4.7 percent.
Growth was strongest among hard discounters, with privately-owned German chain Aldi up 24.1 percent, while frozen food chain Iceland was up 14 percent.
Upmarket chain Waitrose lagged with growth of just 0.7 percent.
Growth continued to be driven by grocery price inflation, which stood at 8.4 percent over the 12-week period, supported by a decline in the value of the pound, TNS Worldpanel said
12 wks to 12 wks to 12 wks to
25/01/09 28/12/08 27/01/08 Total till roll (million sterling) 33,122 33,121
32,293 Total grocers (million sterling) 22,662 22,509
21,304 Total multiples (million sterling) 21,167 21,036
19,839 Market share in percent Tesco 30.7 30.7 31.2 Asda 17.2 16.9 16.9 Sainsbury 16.2 16.2 16.3 Morrison 11.9 11.9 11.6 Waitrose 3.7 3.7 3.9 Somerfield 3.3 3.5 3.6 Aldi 3.0 3.2 2.6 Lidl 2.3 2.4 2.2 Iceland 2.0 2.0 1.8 (Reporting by Mark Potter; Editing by Rupert Winchester)